Codename: Warriors Next Dimension, The Ultimate Crossover Saga
by S.A.Ruiz TheInterceptingDragon
Summary: Ancient, powerful war-criminals have enlisted an array of villains to subjugate every universe. Samurai Jack, Numbuh 1, Ed, Edd, Eddy, Dexter, the Straw Hats and soon more anime, cartoon and videogame heroes embark on an epic quest to stop them! Expect drama, intrigue, romance, and action-packed anime-style battles! Written as unofficial canon continuations! Are you ready for this?
1. Jack's Duel of Fate! The Fall of the Eds

***UPDATE 5/14/2013: Hi everyone! I'm sorry if this caused any confusion among those of you who are already following this story, but for creative reasons, I've decided to change the title from "X-Dimensionz" to "Codename: Warriors Next Dimension" in order to better fit the plot. I honestly and shamefully admit that it was a concept that I hadn't thought up yet until I was already in the process of writing episode 4. Once again, sorry for any confusion that this may have caused. I'll mention this again in an author's note in Episode 6 when it's up, for those that don't read this here.**

***UPDATE 6/12/2013: Since I've been striving to make this in the style of an actual TV show and as cinematic as possible, in order to better set the mood, I've decided to give each season a set of four music themes: two English opening themes, and two Japanese ending themes. For episodes 1-6, the intensely epic opening theme will be "Heroes of Our Time" by Dragonforce, and the beautifully badass ending theme will be "Return to Destiny" by Maon Kurosaki. There will be different opening and ending themes for episodes 7-12, and every song should be easy to find on Youtube. Enjoy!**

* * *

Author's Note: Welcome, everyone! Allow me to clear some things up before you get into this sprawling, continuing epic. First off, I do not own any of these properties or characters, so all rights go to their respective owners and affiliates. Second, anyone expecting anime and videogame characters, be patient. Believe me, I wanted to include them sooner, but they will eventually come into the story when the time is right and awesome, hopefully at episode 6 or 7, after which, they will be major characters. Third, I will also be including a few live-action movie characters such as Agent Smith from the Matrix, Whiplash from Iron Man 2, The Joker from the Dark Knight, Xenomorphs (Aliens), and Predators, plus others if I find a good use for them as well. Fourth, I will be including a few non-human OCs soon (about eight villains and maybe two or three good guys) because the reason for everything crossing over has its own mythology and history to it. But they won't appear until the next episode. Finally, this will be written as an unofficial continuation of most of these properties' official canons. Now without further ado . . .

* * *

(Cue opening theme: Dragonforce - "Heroes of Our Time" - 00:00 to 02:12)

**Codename: Warriors Next Dimension**

**Season 1: Quantum Genesis - Episode 1: Jack's Duel of Fate! The Fall of the Eds**

(The Island of Time, two years and two months after Samurai Jack, Episode LII)

The cool mountain breeze blew softly as the sun continued its descent towards the Earth's horizon and beyond. To the east, the stars were already prominent, and the various howls and screeches of the region's nocturnal creatures were clearly audible.

The infamous wandering-warrior who came to be known as _Samurai Jack_, and as a hero and symbol of hope to most of the twisted future-Earth's various peoples, strode through a wasteland of highly rusted and corroded remains of fallen robotic warriors from ages long forgotten. Warriors who had failed where even he had failed before. But he was sure that he would succeed this time. He had put himself through an intense training regiment for the past two years, and during the two months before that, he had gone on his most dangerous quest yet, but that's a story that will be revealed later. He continued through the wreckage as he saw a faint glow through the bullet holes of the front half of a particularly large, metal head. The head had been sliced in half - and it was thirty feet tall!

_Not much farther,_ thought Jack as he quickened his pace. The wind, now gaining speed, chilled him as he made his way towards the wastelands' center, to the source of the surrounding metal corpses. Sprinting the final stretch, he then stopped, silent, focused, and determined. He had arrived.

In the middle of the wreckage, he beheld a familiar sight: a large, open area whose center consisted of a towering beam of light – his goal – and in front of it, a hulking silhouette. Standing in front of the time portal stood its protector. Not only was this the first man to even match Jack in single combat since Jack had first fought the Scotsman, but he was also the only man to ever actually _defeat_ Jack - the Time Guardian. He was big (about eight feet tall), bald, blue-skinned, wore a pitch-black suit, and a pair of red sun-glasses. Not to mention the variety of deadly weapons underneath his suit.

"Oh, I see you're back for more, Samurai," said the Guardian in his deep, baritone voice, while his suit's coattails fluttered in the wind. "You know, you're not supposed to be good enough to beat me yet, right? But I guess you've somehow altered your fate, because the portal seems to have stopped emanating the same, strange energy as the last time you challenged me, so that means you're no longer the one who's destined to pass. This time, the portal won't stop me from finishing you off."

Jack just smiled and unsheathed his holy katana. This guy had plagued his nightmares almost as much as Aku, but not anymore. Jack was now confident. He was full of faith. Taking one more deep breath, he then charged and braced himself for one hell of a fight.

* * *

(The Cul-de-sac, Peach Creek, two days after Ed, Edd, 'n Eddy's Big Picture Show)

The spring afternoon sun blazed at its heavenly pinnacle as song birds continuously chirped their sweet melodies. The air was mildly arid, and almost seemed to swirl around the teens of the Peach Creek cul-de-sac as they made their way home from such a tiresome adventure.

Rolf, Kevin, Nazz, Sarah, and Jimmy, still carried the Eds on their shoulders while crossing the construction yard, which was full of construction equipment and vehicles, as well as soon to be finished houses. They were almost home.

The Eds consisted of Ed, who was the dimwitted, geeky, unhygienic, sci-fi loving, workhorse, and all-purpose multi-tool of the group, who was also unnaturally super-strong, Edd (or _Double D, _as the others called him) who was the frail, yet scientific and inventive genius of the group who always wore a black ski-hat, and Eddy, who was the group's self-appointed leader and everyman who was also extremely cunning and determined when he felt like it, but was usually a major slacker that, until recent events led him to repent and reform his greedy and selfish ways, used to obsess over scamming everyone in their community in order to buy Jawbreakers. Then, of the others, there was Kevin, the bike-obsessed typical jock, who used to bully the Eds. Nazz was the girl-next-door and love interest of every boy there minus Rolf and Jimmy, who was actually the only person to really treat the Eds with any form of respect, even before their recent rise to acceptance. Sarah was Ed's fiery, spoiled and bossy little sister, and also Jimmy's best friend, who constantly beat the living crap out of anyone who made her or Jimmy angry. Jimmy was the wimpy, effeminate, yet ruthless weakling, who constantly hid behind Sarah for protection when he was threatened (usually for a good reason), who wore a retainer and head-gear due to a bowling-pin accident during one of Eddy's scams-gone-wrong. And finally (Since Johnny isn't around), Rolf was the meat-obsessed, Eastern-European immigrant who referred to himself in the third person, ran his parents' small farm at the far end of the cul-de-sac, and constantly weirded everyone out with his strange customs and traditions.

"Um, guys, you can put us down now." Said Double D, "and sorry about your bike, Kevin."

"It's cool, bro," chimed Kevin, "It's the least we can do for all the years of misery that we put you guys through. Oh, and about the bike, eh, I've got spares in my garage, behind the jawbreakers."

_This is awesome!_ thought Eddy as they turned into the alley-way, _they really like us!_

Ed just giggled in his usual, seemingly absent-minded manner.

"It's just, well, you've been carrying us for the entire trek back from Mondo-A-Go-Go," replied Double D.

"Maybe he's right, Kevin," whimpered Jimmy, who, along with Sarah, had the supreme misfortune of being under Ed, and was struggling to keep him suspended.

Kevin seemed to ignore him as they passed Jimmy's backyard. There were many stuffed animals and a little table with an umbrella for tea parties.

Eddy tried to contain his laughter as they left it behind. "What do you say, guys! Party at my place?" he yelled, reveling in his new-found social stature.

"Sounds fun, Eddy! I'll be over after a quick shower and a change of clothing." responded Nazz, causing Eddy to almost pass out and basically have a miniature heart-attack from pure joy.

Everyone else excitedly agreed as well.

"I'm down," said Kevin, "I'll even bring a whole box of Jawbreakers."

_I'm either dead or dreaming! This can't be for real!_ thought Eddy.

"Rolf shall bring his massive, six foot tall turnip so that you Ed boys may all partake in Rolf's family's ceremonial dance of social acceptance!" laughed Rolf merrily.

"Um, Rolf, what's the turnip for?" asked Double D in confusion – along with everyone else.

"Why do you insult the son of a shepherd with your ignorance, which knows no bounds?!" yelled Rolf, annoyed, "you shall dance with Rolf's turnip!"

Everyone (including Ed) minus Eddy and Double D, busted out laughing.

_Great! _thought Eddy, dreadfully, _I'm gonna dance with a freakin' turnip! _He looked at Ed in confusion, "Why are _you_ laughing, lumpy?"

"Because, um . . . I don't know! Ahahaha!" Ed continued to laugh.

They neared the remnants of the their last great scam-gone-wrong, which caused the Eds much discomfort, despite having received their friends' forgiveness.

There were blast marks and wooden debris everywhere, but the others seemed not to mind.

They suddenly stopped.

"Guys? What's wrong?" Eddy asked, snapping out of his day-dreaming.

"Oh no!" said Double D fearfully.

"Cool!" yelled Ed in amazement.

"What?" yelled Eddy, but then he saw it.

On the ground, in the middle of the blast site, was a swirling puddle of both light and darkness, and something began to emerge from it.

"What is that thing!" yelled everyone, except Ed, who now bore a huge grin.

"I know what it is!" he yelled, much to everyone's confusion.

The black creature that emerged had no eyes, only a long head with a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. It opened its mouth, and out protruded a long stiff tongue, only it wasn't a tongue, but another, smaller mouth with more teeth. It had a long and slender body with similarly slender limbs that culminated in sharp claws, and out of its back, there extended what appeared to be small tentacles. Its skin looked very slimy and glossy. It turned towards them and began inching forward.

Everyone spontaneously dropped the Eds and, turned to them, yelling "all of this is your fault!"

"How?!" yelled Double D, from the ground.

"The explosion that you caused obviously must have opened up some sort of wormhole in the space/time continuum, Double D!" yelled Nazz, surprising everyone, and this time causing Double D to also have a miniature heart-attack from pure joy.

But he quickly snapped out of it and said, "That's not possible! But, all of you, get to safety!"

The creature let out a very disturbing shriek, causing everyone but the Eds, who were still on the ground, to run off.

"Everyone to my place!" screamed Kevin, for his house was the closest, "except for you three dorks!"

"Well that was short lived," said Double D as the others scrambled into the house.

"Run!" shouted Eddy, frantically running in the other direction. The other Eds quickly got up and ran after him.

The creature was right on their tails, and gaining.

* * *

Jack swung his blade with incredible speed, but the Guardian still managed to unsheathe his own katana as well – which was completely white - from his back, and blocked the slash.

"Looks like you haven't learned much more since the last time you challenged me!" laughed the Guardian, holding Jack's sword in place.

"You could not . . . be more wrong!" yelled Jack as he pushed off the Guardian's mighty strength, and then flipped backwards while simultaneously slicing upwards with incredible speed. His blade sliced the Guardian's chest three times before he was out of reach, causing the blue giant to stumble back a few steps, out of intense pain.

Regaining his composure, the giant's face suddenly had a demented smile on it. "Interesting . . ." he said. Then he charged at Jack with his sword raised. Reaching him, he hacked downwards, and though Jack still caught it just in time, the sheer force of the strike knocked him back a good sixty feet, into the massive heaps of metal that surrounded them.

Jack quickly jumped onto his feet and casually strolled back onto the battlefield. He readied himself once again.

"Give up, Samurai," said the Guardian.

"I will not!" cried out Jack as he charged his hulking nemesis once again.

The Guardian anticipated his attack and held his sword in a blocking position, but Jack was nowhere to be found. Feeling more intense pain, he suddenly found Jack crouched under him, with his blade piercing into his gut.

Enraged, the Guardian slashed downwards but Jack pulled his sword out of him and successfully stopped his attack. The giant continued into a raging frenzy of sword attacks, but Jack blocked every single one.

Then, in an attempt to escape the blue man's rage, he began jump-dodging, trying to regain the opportunity to attack, but the Guardian kept up with him and continued his onslaught even when they were in the air. But then, out of his anger, he made a mistake. He made it a point to grunt in a frustrated manner slightly before every attack. Jack quickly took advantage of this and timed an attack in between the Guardian's grunts and sliced horizontally across the giant's chest, spilling a very small amount of "blood" – or actually, robot oil. _That's it! But I'll need to spill more for this to work!_thought Jack frantically as he tried to time another attack, but he was caught off-guard by one of the Guardian's insanely powerful front kicks, and was sent flying towards the tower of light, landing twenty feet from it.

"You're the first warrior in one thousand years to even land one good hit on me, and yet, not counting our last fight, here you are with a total of five," yelled the Guardian as he sheathed his sword and then crossed his arms, "but now, you're done for!"

_Oh no! _Jack thought to himself intensely as he scrambled onto his feet. He knew that pose well.

"Eat lead!" the Guardian laughed maniacally as he pulled out his twin pistols and began rapid firing.

Jack barely managed to avoid the first few shots, but one then majorly grazed his right shoulder before he managed to run around the beam of light for cover. It was slightly bleeding.

The shooting ceased as the Guardian ran out of ammunition, at which Jack quickly ran out to him and launched into a flying kick that knocked the giant onto his back.

"That is number six," said Jack.

The blue behemoth quickly sprung to his feet and pulled out a grenade launcher from seemingly nowhere.

"Then I suppose I owe you six grenades!" cried the giant in total fury. He began launching grenades at Jack, who ran around the battleground, trying to keep as far from each timed blast as he could, and though what he couldn't avoid didn't harm him much, he was still knocked around senseless by the pressure. But he quickly regained awareness of his surroundings just as the Guardian was loading more grenades into his launcher. He sprinted towards the giant, but was too far and too late.

The Guardian took aim and launched another grenade, but this time Jack was ready.

Timing it just right, he drop-kicked the grenade back to the Guardian, causing it to detonate at about two feet in front of him.

The smoke quickly cleared, but the Guardian was nowhere to be seen.

Jack, though in a lot of pain and out of breath, breathed out a sigh of relief, and turned to his long sought-after goal.

He had finally done it! He was going to slay Aku and prevent this horrible future!

_This is it._ thought Jack as he made his way towards the time portal, _I will soon live a normal, peaceful life._ He soon reached the portal, which was blindingly bright, and stepped into it, but it didn't react. "What's going on here?!" yelled Jack in frustration, "why won't it work?!" He immediately ran out of it to examine it from the outside.

The entirety of the towering light's circumference was exactly the same. It was pure light.

_Was it all just a cruel lie?!_ Jack didn't want to – no, he _couldn't_ believe that all of this was in vain! _Maybe I missed something!_ he thought frantically.

"I told you, Samurai, you can't pass through without beating me first!" boomed a voice from above.

Jack looked up and immediately jumped back, barely dodging the colossal, watermelon-sized fist that impacted the ground in front of him with such strength, that the shockwave knocked him clear across the battleground into the heaps of metal again, where he slammed against a gigantic forearm, causing it to tip over. He quickly jumped off of it before it landed on the ground, sending dust and debris everywhere as he ran back towards the time portal.

There was now a large crater (maybe 25-30 feet in diameter) in the battleground's northern quarter, and in its center, there stood the Guardian, some of his clothes were ragged from receiving that grenade blast in such a close proximity.

"That makes two of my suits that you've ruined, Samurai. You know, these are specially tailored, so they're not cheap," The Guardian said angrily. "But at least my pants are fully intact this time," he said as he ripped what little remained of his shirt and coat, off. There were two steel rings that crossed his wounded chest in an "X".

"So if you were not wearing that, your chest wounds would have been much more severe." Jack pointed out.

"Don't flatter yourself! They would've been barely any bigger!" laughed the giant, reaching behind his back, "I had hoped not to be forced to use this style, but you're now a pest that needs quick extermination," he said as he unsheathed the completely white katana from before, followed by a second, completely black katana. "It's on now, Samurai."

* * *

"This sucks! They hate us again!" shouted Eddy, running frantically, "tell me you have a plan, Sock-head!"

"My house!" yelled Ed, who seemed to be enjoying the chase, as he had a big dumb smile on his face.

"That's fine and all, but how do you . . . fine gentlemen suppose that we'll lose that . . . abhorrent abomination of natural biology!" cried Double D, now panting for breath.

"Ed! Your shoes!" yelled Eddy as they turned onto the main road of the cul-de-sac.

"Got'chya Eddy!" said Ed, laughing in his oafish manner while taking off his shoes in mid-run. He then tossed them back at the creature, hitting it and stopping it momentarily as it investigated them.

"Aaaaagh! I was sure that their stench would knock it out!" yelled Eddy, almost out of breath.

"No! . . . Now's our chance!" panted Double D.

Following his cue, they quickly jumped to their left through some tall bushes in front of Double D's house.

"We'll have to make due with my house for now," whispered Double D as they cautiously crawled through the bushes' length and scrambled through Double D's well maintained backyard to the backdoor.

Once inside his particularly well organized and extraordinarily clean home, they scrambled to Double D's room (which was also well organized and extraordinarily clean, but everything was labeled as well). It had shelves upon shelves of books, plus a small table with supplies and equipment for scientific experiments. For some reason, the bed was labeled "Sack", which Eddy always thought was funny for Double D.

"So, what do we do now, guys?" asked Eddy, catching his breath.

"Only two things to do: get rid of that monster, and then set out to clear our names!" announced Double D as he searched through his alphabetically categorized bookshelf.

Ed just stared out of the window.

"Good Ed, let us know if that monster shows up again, will ya?" said Eddy as he just relaxed on Double D's bed. "Yo Sock-head, find anything yet?"

"Maybe if you guys would help! But on the other hand, I found my set of encyclopedias on quantum physics, but they mention nothing on explosions of lesser power to a supernova distorting time or space, much less opening a blasted wormhole!" cried Double D angrily.

"Maybe we witnessed some sort of exception or a . . . special, rare phenomenon?" said Eddy in a (rare) moment of brilliance.

"Very good, Eddy! That may just be the case!" exclaimed Double D, "Oh dear! If only I had some printed information on the subject!"

_Oh boy, looks like Sock-head's rubbing off on me,_ thought Eddy.

"Looks like I'm rubbing off on you, Eddy," laughed Double D.

"Just what I was thinkin'," pouted Eddy.

"Hey!" yelled Ed, "it's going into my house!"

"What? Your house?" said Eddy.

Ed suddenly had a look of terror on his face and yelled, "oh no, Sarah! We have to save her!" he tried running out, but both Eddy and Double D grabbed his green coat's collar (much to their disgust) and pulled him back to hold him.

"What are you yappin' about, Lumpy, Sarah's at Kevin's house!" said Eddy in mild amusement, "now you get serious, eh Ed?"

"Oh yeah! I forgot! Ahahaha!" laughed Ed.

"Loveable oaf," chuckled Double D, but then it hit him. "Ed, you said earlier that you knew what that thing was. Well, do you?"

"Yeah! I recognized it from -" just then, something shook the house underneath them.

"Oh crap!" yelled Eddy.

"Eddy! Language, mister!" yelled Double D.

"Can it, Sock-head, we're off the air, remember?" laughed Eddy, "sounds like you have an uninvited houseguest."

The sound of a vase breaking sounded from out in the hallway.

"Oh dear, Father and Mother will be so angry!" whimpered Double D.

"I think now would be a good time to make our escape!" yelled Eddy, opening Double D's window.

They all quickly jumped out, using a giggling Ed to break their fall, and then ran out onto the cul-de-sac.

They ran straight into Ed's house and pushed what they could in front of all of the windows and doors (it was already a mess due to the creature's earlier break-in), and then went down into Ed's room, which happened to occupy the basement. Creepily, his room always had a purple and green glow to it. Within, he had his walls plastered with posters of sci-fi horror movies and videogames. He had a shelf of Sci-fi monster comics and action figures, most notably, a particularly dangerous one that was a little horned monster that had a string on its back that when pulled, caused the toy to "breathe" out an unnecessarily dangerous huge stream of actual fire! Plus, his entire room was usually a giant mess.

"Can't tell if the monster wrecked Ed's room, or if it's just how it always is," laughed Eddy.

"Nope! It's just how I left it, Eddy! Ahahaha!" giggled Ed.

"Eddy, block in the light from the basement window!" said Double D, "Well, Ed?" he inquired, "what exactly is that creature?"

"It's a Xenomorph!" yelled Ed, excitedly.

"A Xeno-what?" asked Eddy, with a look of confusion, as he stuffed one of Ed's pillows into the window's small frame. It was mostly due to Ed actually knowing something.

"Xenomorph? An extraterrestrial?" pondered Double D, "but how do you know that Ed?"

"Movies!" said Ed as he popped a tape into his VCR, "this one's called _Aliens_."

"Now's hardly the time to watch a movie, Ed!" said Double D.

"But it might actually help us, Double D! Movie knows all!" said Ed, cryptically.

"I guess it's worth a shot, but keep the volume low! We don't want that alien to pay us another visit!" said Double D as all three of them squeezed onto Ed's recliner the way they usually did when they watched movies with him.

Ed suddenly lifted his leg, letting his pant-leg fall, and pulled a hard candy off of his leg hairs. "Snack?" he said, offering it to the others.

"Ugh! Don't start _that_ again, Ed!" laughed Eddy as Double D gagged.

* * *

(Kevin's House)

"I wonder if those dorks made it to safety," said Kevin, looking out of his second-floor room's window. They had barricaded the entire downstairs area.

"I still can't believe that you did that, Kevin!" yelled Nazz, in tears, "whether it was their fault or not, no one deserves to go like that!" she continued crying and sulked on Kevin's bed.

"But I -" Kevin just stopped. He really didn't know what to say.

"Did anyone else notice that Plank and Johnny have been missing since the whole incident with Eddy's brother?" said Jimmy, still trembling.

"Don't know, don't care!" said Sarah, "that creepy fat-head is probably down in some pit, plotting something against my stupid brother and his stupid friends, or something like that."

"Is the monster outside, Kevin?" asked Jimmy, now cowering underneath Kevin's bed.

Kevin looked out again. "Whoa! Sarah, that thing just came out of your house!"

"What!" yelled Sarah, her mouth growing to monstrous proportions, "If that monster messes up my room, then I'm gonna kill Ed if the monster hasn't beaten me to it!"

"It's now going into Double D's house! Choice! It just knocked down his door!" laughed Kevin, seemingly forgetting his guilt.

"Oh no, Double D!" squealed Sarah, tears now forming in her eyes.

Jimmy's eye twitched as he felt a twinge of jealousy and anger.

"The creature hungers for a virgin sacrifice!" yelled Rolf with a maniacal look on his face. He looked first at Nazz, and then Sarah, and then proceeded to pick Sarah up to carry her out of the room as she screamed and kicked.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Rolf what are you thinking, man?!" yelled Kevin as he and Jimmy tried to pry her from him, finally succeeding after a major struggle.

Rolf seemed to snap out of it, and then bowed down immediately, "forgive Rolf, loud-mouth Ed-girl! He was not in control of his actions! Spare Rolf your wrath!"

Sarah just trembled in a seemingly traumatic state.

"I'll kill you!" cried Jimmy as he launched himself at Rolf, but was caught just in time by Kevin.

"Calm down, fluffy! We won't get anywhere fighting amongst ourselves!" yelled Kevin as he continued to restrain the ravenous Jimmy.

"I guess you would know that best of all, right, Kevin?" said Nazz somberly.

". . ." Kevin was at a loss for the right words once again, "Look, everyone just lay low, and try not to make any noise. I have a feeling that the dorks are alright. I don't know how, but I can just feel it in my gut."

* * *

The movie's credits began rolling when Ed suddenly got up and shut it off. "So? Was that cool or what, guys?"

"Well, I'll admit that it was a very good movie. But first off, Ed, I'm very confused as to why a creature from a series of science-fiction movies is tearing up our cul-de-sac," said Double D, who pondered to himself intensely.

"But did you see anything useful, Double D?" said Eddy, worriedly.

"Indeed I did, but it's only theoretical," Double D looked at his friends with a confident smile, "fire."

"Fire?" asked Eddy.

"Did you not pay attention to the movie?" inquired Double D quizzically.

"I did, but my deducing skills are obviously lacking," admitted Eddy.

"_Deductive_, and, right, my apologies," said Double D as he sat on Ed's bed absent-mindedly, and then quickly shot up, remembering that it was basically its own eco-system in there. "Well on that note, I deduced that they don't like fire, simple as that."

"So we just have to trap it and light it on fire?" asked Eddy.

"That would be much too dangerous. No, we need a strategy to combat this foe indirectly, or from a distance, if you will," said Double D seemingly to himself, "because we'll also have to watch out for its acidic blood."

Eddy thought for a moment, and then smiled widely, "I have something that we can use."

* * *

(Eddy's House)

"Eddy, are you sure about this?" Double D asked worriedly, "about a week ago, this stuff turned us into the cul-de-sac's most wanted! What if we only end up having a repeat of last time?"

"It'll work, trust me," assured Eddy as he dug through his brother's car.

They were in Eddy's house, specifically his big brother's room, searching through the trunk of his car (for some unexplained reason, he kept it in his room). His room also contained other oddities, such as a full-sized, blue taxidermy camel that wore a red and white striped top hat, a pile of beach-sand in the corner that had a lounging chair and an umbrella on it to look like a miniature beach, a window that was covered with bricks, and a roll-away bed that rolled into a fridge.

"That's what you said for each of our scams!" responded Double D, as he examined his most despised of substances. It was nitro glycerin.

Their last great "scam of the century" – as Eddy put it – involved freezing the other kids in place, and then using a giant piece of metal, which Double D magnetized, to take their money. But Eddy, having mistaken his brother's questionable stash of nitro glycerin for liquid nitrogen, fired it (thankfully it was a small amount) but the resulting explosion still blew up the immediate area, effectively angering those affected to almost no end, which then led to the Ed's immediate exodus and eventually to the crisis with Eddy's big brother.

"And how are we going to use this?" inquired Double D, "if we just throw these beakers, we'll only get two chances, and if we miss, we're goners!"

"Not if we have our Canadian squirt-guns," chimed Eddy.

Double D thought it over. "That may actually be stupid enough to work!"

"Then it's set. Lumpy will lure that Alien into the construction yard, and then we ambush it! Roll out!"

* * *

"Don't let it in!" Jimmy screamed from the stairs.

Kevin, Nazz, Rolf, and Sarah were pushed up against the front door barricade as the Xenomorph pushed and scratched from the outside.

"Maybe a little more . . . help would be nice . . . Fluffy!" strained Kevin, who pushed on an overturned table alongside Nazz.

The Alien screeched even louder as it gave a bigger heave, almost knocking them all back, but they quickly regained their footing and continued to hold.

Suddenly, a burning sound and smell were prominent, as was smoke, which rose from their barricade.

"Is that fire?!" yelled Nazz, pushing on a TV.

"Oh no," panted Kevin, ominously.

"What?!" the others yelled simultaneously.

"That smells like acid! It's burning through!" he yelled as he contemplated whether to run for it or not. "We've gotta hold up somewhere else!"

"Then let us go to Rolf's house!" yelled Rolf.

"Like now, man!" said Kevin as he began to run for his backdoor, as did the others.

Once outside, they took off around the side of his house, and booked it across the cul-de-sac.

The alien realized where they were, and immediately began trailing Sarah, who was bringing up the rear.

"It's almost got Sarah!" cried Jimmy.

Sarah screamed and ran with all of the speed that she could muster, but the alien just seemed to gain on her.

"Get away from her, you _bitch!_" yelled Ed from across the cul-de-sac.

"Did Ed just curse?!" asked Double D in genuine disbelief, while Eddy just laughed hysterically. They were both waiting in the construction yard.

"Hahahahahahaha! The Lump made a movie reference!" he was now on his belly, pounding the ground as he laughed.

The Xenomorph turned towards Ed, and decided to run after the unmoving prey instead, but Ed quickly ran and promptly led it into the construction yard.

"Now, guys!" he yelled, running into one of the half-finished houses where the other Eds were holed up.

Eddy and Double D opened fire through a second story window with their nitro glycerin-filled _Canadian squirt-guns_, (which were really just turkey-basters) onto the alien, preventing it from entering. It shrieked as it caught various direct hits in the form of small, concentrated explosions on and around it. Ed joined them just as they refilled their weapons, and before they could squirt it again, it suddenly crouched, and then jumped onto the roof of the house. It screeched and begun breaking through.

"Abort! Abort!" yelled Double D, but it was too late, for it came crashing down. They were trembling with fear. The alien appeared to be oozing bright-green blood from various places all over its body.

"Curse my selflessness!" yelled Double D, "I hate to say it, but I think this is the end, dear friends! It's been an honor!"

The alien launched itself at them, but they miraculously dodged it, causing it to slam against the wall behind them, causing more of the roof to fall down. The alien's acidic blood immediately melted small holes in the wall. Double D took note of this.

"I'm sorry for messing up most of your scams, Eddy!" cried Ed, trembling with fear.

"And I'm sorry for thinking of your mom as a MILF, Ed!" Eddy cried back.

Ed turned to him with a quizzical look on his face, "Wait . . . what?"

"Gentlemen, hit it with everything that you've got, now!" yelled Double D.

They all unloaded every ounce of nitro glycerin on the Xenomorph, causing it to bleed profusely, which, combined with the concentrated explosions, made the ground around it highly unstable. It soon fell through to the first floor, shrieking, until there was a crashing sound.

Then . . . silence.

"Oh, good lord! It's over!" cried out Double D in such intense relief.

"Come on, let's get back to the others," said Eddy.

They immediately rushed out to tell their friends.

* * *

(Rolf's House)

"A celebration, I say!" yelled Rolf in his usual, merry manner after hearing of the Eds' victory. Everyone else cheered as well.

"Wow guys! Thanks, like, so, so much!" squealed Nazz with tears of joy, "I'm so glad that you're all safe!" she then proceeded to give all three of them a kiss on the cheek. "That's for being so brave!"

This time, all three of the Eds had miniature heart-attacks of joy, simultaneously.

Kevin glared at them intensely, though he couldn't help but feel thankful and relieved for what they had done. "This doesn't mean that you're off the hook, dorks," he said, "that worm-whatever is still open! Who's to say that another of those things won't show up again?"

"Of course, Kevin," said Double D sadly, "I'll see what I can do about it, but it may take some time."

Kevin continued his glare, "Well, when it comes to those Xeno-things, time's just something that we don't have, Double Dweeb."

* * *

After the celebration, the Ed's finally relaxed and agreed to stay the night at Ed's, just in case they were needed again. They settled down to talk over what had happened and made plans for in case another Xenomorph were to show up.

"I'm going to set up a security system around the worm-hole to warn us in case another entity comes through, but we still have to find out where to get more nitro glycerin," said Double D. "It's the only effective weapon that we have against them."

"Alright, I'll check my big bro's car tomorrow and see if he's got any more stashed away," yawned Eddy as he relaxed on Ed's recliner.

"Good, because we only have one 16 ounce beaker left," Double D yawned as well.

They continued talking, when a noise sounded outside of Ed's door.

"Ed, I think Sarah's here." said Eddy, relaxing on the recliner while watching TV.

"Sarah's at Jimmy's house," said Ed.

"Then whom, may I wonder, is outside of the door?" asked Double D, who was examining Ed's massive comic book collection.

Just then, something broke through Ed's door, sending debris everywhere, causing the Eds to run to the opposite wall. The Xenomorph had returned, and it was not only severely wounded, but also severely pissed-off. Its blood burned Ed's carpet as it growled at them. The Eds quickly jumped onto the bed just as it shrieked and charged at them, causing the creature to crash through Ed's bathroom door.

"My gravy!" yelled Ed, trying to run to his bathroom, but the others held onto him. Ed quickly pushed them off and then ran to his shelf of action figures. He chose the little horned monster and then walked to his bathroom's doorway. The wounded alien was trying to get back onto its feet, but it kept slipping, for it had broken the bathtub, causing the gravy to spill. Ed didn't hesitate in pulling the string, causing a jet of flame to stream from the figure's mouth. "For my gravy!" he yelled, pulling the string again. The creature shrieked horribly with every blast, but Ed continued his inferno, until finally the shrieking stopped, and the alien was no more than a pile of bubbling ash. The room was filled with a foul, sour, yet meaty, smell.

"Jeez," said Eddy, "Ed, are you okay?"

Ed turned to them with tears in his eyes, and began sobbing profusely, "My gravy, guys! It's all gone!"

They were at a loss for words. Disturbing as it may have been, that tub of gravy had been Ed's treasure for years.

"Don't worry, Ed, after we clear our names, we'll help you to get an even better tub of gravy!" assured Double D.

Ed still sobbed, but he finally nodded and calmed down a little.

_First our acceptance, now Ed's gravy,_ thought Double D sadly, _what else are we to lose?_

* * *

Jack and the Time Guardian both stood in the crater, exhausted and wounded. They both had their swords at the ready, and were heavily damaged, so Jack knew that this would be their final exchange.

The Guardian raised both his black and white katana and launched himself at Jack, who successfully blocked his double sword strikes. He then swung both of his swords at once, but Jack quickly ducked underneath them and tried to pierce him again, but the giant knew what he was playing at, so he swung his swords again, but lower, hoping to catch Jack, but missed once again as his small, evasive opponent jumped back and away.

Jack realized that he could not keep at this for long so he jumped over the giant, who anticipated this and kicked behind him, catching Jack on his side so hard, that when he sent him rolling away, Jack actually rolled up and out of the crater.

The Guardian immediately jumped after him and attempted to impale him on the ground, but Jack quickly rolled over and, pushing himself off of the ground, spun in the air, catching the kneeling blue giant on the back of the head with a well-placed aerial roundhouse, disorienting him. Then, immediately sheathing his sword upon landing, he ran up and followed with a Wing Chun Gatling barrage, which consisted of multiple, powerfully concentrated punches to the Guardian's face for three seconds (at more than ten per second!), and finally ended his onslaught by grabbing the back of the giant's head and rocketing his knee into him. The blue man toppled backwards and fell flat on his back.

Jack unsheathed his sword again and placed it at the Guardian's neck. "I have bested you! Now, will you allow me to pass?"

The Guardian swung his huge fist at him from the ground, but Jack just jumped back and stood in a readied stance as the giant slowly got up off the ground. "I'm not finished yet, Samurai," he then picked up his two swords and got into a fighting stance as well.

They ran at each other and exchanged slashes, blocking everything that the other could throw at the other. The giant grew furious in his attacks and made his mistake of grunting again. Jack blocked the white katana and waited for a grunt to signal the black one being swung before he jumped and spun in the air to avoid it and swung his sword at the same time. His blade sheared across the giant's neck, spilling more robot oil and bringing him down to his knees. He then attempted to deliver the final blow, but the giant crossed both of his swords in an X-block, holding Jack's blade in place.

Jack smiled, "I was waiting for you to do this!"

The giant looked confused for a moment, but then it dawned on him. He had lost.

Jack, with his blade still in between his foe's blades, slid it down quickly as he jumped back, causing it to spark on his opponent's robot oil, reacting in a violent explosion.

When the smoke cleared out, the giant stood kneeling in the same spot. "How? I don't get it, why were you able to defeat me?"

"Simple, there is no such thing as fate or destiny," replied Jack. "About two years and two months ago, I came across the truth of this gateway from a reliable source."

The Guardian seemed not to understand.

Jack continued, "What I mean to say is that this portal had a hidden component that was designed to sap the energy from any and all who dared to confront you, and their energy was fed into you, allowing you to become stronger and stronger throughout the millennia. But it was designed to shut itself off if I was to confront you, to test me. But in a few years, it was going to shut down completely anyway to allow me to surpass you decades from now. After that revelation, I realized that I could not wait for twenty or thirty years to beat you, so I set myself upon a quest to destroy whatever it was that drained warriors 'energy at this portal. Then, through brutal, but necessary means that I would prefer not to reveal, I soon discovered its location at a heavily guarded ancient ruin, just two islands north of here. I then infiltrated it and destroyed that infernal machine. Then, just as I did in the past, I trained intensely with many masters of combat around the world for two years to be able to surpass you.

The Guardian just laughed, "And here I thought that I stopped getting more powerful from old age!" he then tossed his black katana to Jack's feet, and then raised his head, smiling, "You did good, Samurai! I'm glad that I was felled by your hand!" and then he slumped over, dead.

Jack looked down at his fallen foe's blade. It was intensely black, almost as if the light seemed to avoid it. It was as if it was the very essence of darkness. _Wait a minute! That was it! When Aku sent me forward through time, there were both darkness and light in the portal!_ Jack walked up to the tower of light, and pierced it with the black blade.

There was a sound like thunder and the light began to spin. Then, the black blade appeared to stretch completely into the swirling light, and it spread, encompassing half of the tower, and finally, it settled into a steady swirling tornado of darkness and light.

"I want to return to my own time!" Jack yelled into the portal. It then began to spin even faster in response. He was about to step through it, but then hesitated and turned back. He walked up to the Time Guardian's corpse and looked around. He soon found what he was looking for. It was the white katana. He didn't need it to open the portal since it already had light, but he wanted the blade to remember his most powerful foe. Taking the blade, he turned and ran into the portal.

Both light and darkness swirled around him as he both fell and flew through time and space. It was a feeling that he had not felt since his first battle with Aku. He felt so relieved that he was finally going home, finally going to destroy Aku for good, and finally going to live peacefully, the way he was meant to live.

But suddenly, something went wrong. The swirling in front of him split into two, and he veered off into the other worm-hole. His sense of weightlessness soon disappeared, and he found himself with only the sensation of falling.

Everything went dark.

* * *

"Alert! Alert!" echoed the speaker on Double D's security monitor that he had installed in Ed's room. It was remotely connected to the security system that he had installed out in the alley-way. The camera's view encompassed the entire section where the worm-hole resided.

"Hmm? What? Ugh. Oh, guys!" yelled Double D as he awoke, to the others. They were both still sleeping, but after a few small slaps to the face, they soon awoke.

"What, Sock-head?" Eddy yawned as he spoke.

"Come on, Double D, five more minutes!" complained Ed, turning over.

"We've got a breach!" yelled Double D, noticing that it was three in the morning.

The others quickly jumped up.

"No foolin'?!" asked Eddy, worriedly.

"I'm afraid not, Eddy," said Double D, pointing to his monitor. "Look there, what do you suppose that is?" he pointed to a long, shining object that flashed on screen, barely letting anything else be visible.

"I guess all that we can do is to check it out," said Eddy, putting on his shoes.

They all got dressed and filled their Canadian squirt-guns with nitro glycerin just in case they ran into any danger, and set out through Ed's window.

The Eds quickly but quietly, so as not to wake the others, made their way to the alley to investigate. But when they arrived, they found something completely unexpected.

"Simply astonishing!" cried Double D as quietly as his excitement would allow him.

"Whew!" said Eddy, in relief that it wasn't another Xenomorph.

"Oh! Oh! Can we keep him, Double D, huh, can we?" Ed yelled in complete excitement as he got closer and closer to their find..

"Ed, be quiet and get back here!" whispered Double D. "Don't you see those swords?! He could be dangerous!"

The stranger stirred awake.

It was Samurai Jack.

* * *

(Cue ending theme: Maon Kurosaki - "Return to Destiny" - 00:00 to 01:22)

**To Be Continued. . .**

**Next Episode: End of the Multi-Verse?! Numbuh One's Ultimatum!**


	2. Numbuh 1's Ultimatum!

(I do not own any of these properties! All rights go to their respective owners and affiliates!)

Author's Note: Okay, remember when I said that I'd have only about eight OCs? I lied! No, I'm kidding. I just forgot how impossible Numbuh One's story would've been without more OCs, since it never actually showed exactly where, or whom he went with at the end of C: KND except that they were the "Galactic Kids Next Door", so it's a very open component. Also, even though I'm writing this as an unofficial continuation of these properties' canons, I'm still going to pretend that _The Grim Adventures of the Kids Next Door_ never happened, just as the shows themselves did.

Also, for those who missed the promo on Writers Anonymous, the following is an incomplete list of what I will be including in this most epic of series: Samurai Jack, Ed, Edd, 'n Eddy, Codename: Kids Next Door, Dexter's Laboratory, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Adventure Time, Invader Zim, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Regular Show, The Real/Extreme Ghostbusters, Generator Rex, Megas XLR, The Venture Bros., Dragonball Z, One Piece, Naruto Shippuden, Bleach, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Gurren Lagann, Soul Eater, Afro Samurai, Trigun, Ninja Scroll, Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit, Samurai Champloo, Soul Eater, The Boondocks, Family Guy, Futurama, South Park, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Metalocalypse, Squidbillies, Superjail!, Beavis and Butthead, Ratchet and Clank, Jak and Daxter, Silent Hill, Dead Rising, Resident Evil, God of War, Bioshock, Killzone, Resistance, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Blazblue, Guilty Gear, Tekken, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Soul Calibur, and The King of Fighters. Also movie characters such as Agent Smith from the Matrix, Whiplash from Iron Man 2, The Joker from the Dark Knight, Xenomorphs (Aliens) and Predators! I'm thinking on adding others, such as Danny Phantom, Phineas and Ferb, Martin Mystery, and the new Looney Tunes show, but I must think of good places in the story to include them. Now then, let's get to it . . .

* * *

Previously on Codename: Warriors Next Dimension: Samurai Jack confronted the Time Guardian for a rematch in order to gain access to the portal that would take him back to his own time, initiating an intense duel that would test both of them to the limits of their abilities.

Elsewhere, the three Eds were enjoying their new-found social acceptance, until everyone came across a wormhole that happened to be in the exact same spot where their last scam went horribly wrong, effectively getting them blamed for it when an alien Xenomorph emerged from it and started terrorizing the cul-de-sac. Thankfully, the resourceful Eds were able to put a stop to its rampage, but it still seemed that their acceptance was nowhere close to being re-obtained while the worm-hole remained open.

Finally, back in the other world, Samurai Jack managed to defeat his extremely powerful opponent, thus gaining entry into the time portal, but something disrupted his path and caused him to veer off into another direction within the portal, taking him into another dimension. When he awoke after blacking out, he found himself face-to-face with the three Eds.

Now, in continuation . . .

* * *

(Cue opening theme: Dragonforce - "Heroes of Our Time" - 00:00 to 02:12)

**Codename: Warriors Next Dimension**

**Season 1: Quantum Genesis: Episode 2: End of the Multi-Verse?! Numbuh 1's Ultimatum!**

(Planet J-036, Dimension Q-02, Five years after Codename: Kids Next Door, Operation I.N.T.E.R.V.I.E.W.S.)

The smell of blood filled the hot, dry air. The desert planet, codenamed J-036, or rather, Planet Kiatu to the primitive, blue and red-scaled, reptilian natives, had been the site of an extremely difficult and bloody defense operation for the past week and a half, and it was still going. The large city-village's population, though surrounded by a wall, decreased more and more as the days passed and there seemed to be no success, or help in sight.

Nigel Uno, also known as Numbuh 1, formerly of the Kids Next Door of Earth, sat silently, looking up, through a whole in the roof, at the darkening purple sky, and sparse pinkish-red clouds, lost within his thoughts, of friends – old, new, and recently lost, of the hopeful arrival of reinforcements, and of his feelings of loss, sorrow, and desolation. He slowly rose up as his current best friend and mentor, as well as team-leader, Captain Numbuh 529 walked into their makeshift barracks, which were hastily built out of the destroyed buildings that populated the city-village's eastern section, as this was where the enemy swarms seemed to prefer attacking when the heat died down drastically on random nights.

Numbuh 529 had rescued and aided Numbuh 1 many times in past missions, thus gaining his trust. He was human, but not from Earth, 20 years old, had light-brown skin, dark-brown eyes, a thin goatee, short slicked-back hair, and wore the tan, minimally steel-plated, ballistic armor that was standard issue in their ranks for desert warfare. On his waist, he carried two Latin-style machetes that had blackened, rust-proof 18-inch blades (unlike the others whom only carried one) and on his back, an _LZR-32_ _Solar-Rifle_, which concentrated sun-rays into powerful laser beams – perfect for fighting this particular breed of enemy.

The only downsides to these weapons were that their initial charging time lasted for a week, they only fired about fifteen shots before they overheated, and took about twenty seconds to cool down, which Numbuh 1 knew was more than enough time to die several times over in these battles, hence the machetes. But on the flip-side, they basically had infinite ammo, as they were able to store enough energy to shoot for hours on end, assuming you were on a planet that received sunlight for at least six hours a day. Numbuh 1 had been on many that were almost always or permanently night time – and they were total nightmares.

But not as nightmarish as this planet – no, the harsh desert sandstorms and extreme heat and cold were but small concerns when compared to the constant death that this damned operation brought about. Whether they were team-mates or Kiatuan villagers, many people's lives ended every time the hordes of those – things – showed up. And now, they were powerless to hold off another attack, as there were currently only ten, out of initially one hundred First-Class Operatives, left.

It was still new for Numbuh 1 to trust any adults other than his mom and dad. But even stranger, to him, was losing any of his friends, which was a feeling that he hoped to never get used to. It felt so horrible, that he sometimes felt like quitting and going back to Earth, but he never did, because he felt that this cause was not only greater, but that it needed him, and if he left, then all of their sacrifices would have been for nothing.

It turned out that the "Galactic Kids Next Door" was a false-front for an even bigger organization that did not fight adult tyranny as the Kids Next Door did, but instead waged war on an even bigger front. Though the battles, motives, and issues were real, Numbuh 1 and every other operative on Earth (as well as other planets) were really just being trained from a young age and tested on their respective home-planets to one day qualify to join the Rebels Next Dimension. The RND, as they called it, was an interdimensional, technologically advanced, multi-species organization that combated an enemy faction known only as The Fallen Hand, who have been invading and conquering every planet within every dimension that they could find, by means of gathering intel on new worlds to conquer, and then dispatching invasion units comprised of Xenomorphs and any other horrible thing that they could send through their permanent wormholes. The RND would send reinforcements to various different worlds that needed to either be defended or retaken, as well as other operations such as the location and rescue of certain V.I.P.s that could turn the tide of the battle, and the elimination of dangerous targets that actively supported the Fallen Hand's twisted subjugation of the Multi-Verse.

"Are you alright, Numbuh 1?" asked Numbuh 529 as he refilled his canteen with water. They were out of food, and only had enough water for three more days, if rationed out properly, since this planet sustained its life with a strange, light blue, oily liquid that was harmful to humans. But oddly, they still breathed oxygen.

"I was just thinking," Numbuh 1 looked down as he continued, "we might die here, won't we, Captain?"

Numbuh 529 was dumbstruck. He wouldn't admit it, but he had recently, though briefly, thought the same thing. But he snapped out of it quickly, for he was not about to give up. "No, we won't. Don't you dare think that way! We'll be out of here soon." He quickly rushed into their equipment room, and brought out a rocket flare. "I'm going to go launch this, it will be our last shot, but we never know if they'll at least respond with some reinforcements this time," he promptly walked out, reaching for his lighter.

"Thank you," said Numbuh 1 just before Numbuh 529 was completely gone. _He's right; there is no use in giving up! I must remember that!_

This whole tragic operation, already dubbed as the "Kiatuan Suicide" by the surviving members, began when Numbuh 1, by then a highly experienced soldier and already considered an RND First-Class Operative, volunteered to protect the capital village of this planet from the alien hordes that were emanating from a wormhole in the desert canyons to the south on random nights. The main goal was to extract the village's population to safety aboard a large, quartering ship. A few of the other first-class operatives, being Numbuh 1's friends, also volunteered to assist him in this incredibly dangerous mission, bringing their teams with them as well. But when they launched four infantry transporters off of the massive, interdimensional mobile space-station that acted as one of the main headquarters of the RND, and came into this planet's atmosphere, they were mysteriously attacked, causing them to crash land on the planet's harsh desert. But what was stranger was that HQ didn't even respond to their communication efforts, nor did they even send the quartering ship, or at least a team to check up on their situation! This was supposed to be a five day operation, and it was now nearing the end of its eleventh. They were stranded, severely outnumbered, and seemingly forsaken. Thankfully, nobody blamed Numbuh 1 for their predicament (at least, not out loud), but he still felt as though it was his fault.

There were many theories within the survivors, chief among them, being that HQ had actually been destroyed by whomever caused them to crash, which did make a lot of sense, since it was the perfect opportunity to strike, due to so many first-class operatives being in such a vulnerable and unsuspecting position.

Numbuh 1 gathered his gear and weapons, and then put on his trademark sunglasses. He was suddenly feeling very restless, so he decided to go for a long walk to the entrance gate and back. There was still a good bit of time left before night time completely came over them.

He pushed open the door and walked out. They were surrounded by what they called the ghost town, for no one lived there anymore, and the sandstone buildings were crumbling apart, due to their past battles. He took a short-cut that he knew down a debris-cluttered alley, passing a destroyed Kiatuan hospital. He stopped as he spotted Numbuh 860, who rushed out to greet him as she always did – by jumping onto him, landing into a tight embrace, and then giving him a kiss. She and Numbuh 1 had begun a romantic relationship about eleven months ago while on a critical mission, and it was still going strong, as they always comforted and strengthened one another. She too, was fifteen, and just like Numbuh 529, was also a non-Earthling human, for they were from the same planet, except that she was much more – exotic – in that she had cherry-blossom-pink skin, naturally large, dark-purple eyes, and very long, sky-blue hair that she had to keep tied back and bundled up, minus two strands that she let hang down the sides of her, in Numbuh 1's opinion, unusually beautiful face. All of these were normal human physical traits back on her planet, and to make things weirder, they weren't even the most common. In fact, Numbuh 529's physical traits were actually the ones considered to be uncommon!

Numbuh 1 made it a goal to visit her world, one day, for it sounded both very familiar, yet very strange at the same time. The only thing that Numbuh 1 didn't quite enjoy was that her codename was one digit away from being _Numbuh 86_, a thought that always made him shudder, as back on Earth, she was the person that annoyed him the most. So they both referred to each other by their real names. "How did it go, Keilana?" he asked worriedly, still embracing her. She had been gone with Numbuh 2476, their best pilot and top engineer who had assured everyone that she could fix the ship. They'd been venturing out everyday, since they crashed into the bright orange dunes, to conduct repairs.

"Hello Kitty (_Keilana's nickname for Numbuh 2476_) made some good progress, but she still needs to repair an essential part before it will be able to fly," she broke the embrace and took his hand, leading him down the rest of the alley-way, then eventually to the female barracks where Numbuh 2476 was busy fidgeting with a particularly complex-looking device, causing sparks to fly out of it.

"Yo, Pinky-Pie, back so soon?" she said in her usual laid-back tone through her welder's mask as she noticed them coming her way, "oh, and what's up, Baldy?"

"Nice to see you too, Numbuh 2476. Enchanting, as usual," said Numbuh 1, in mild irritation. They got along well enough, but, though he didn't mind that she was a whole other species, she not only lacked remorse, but was also the type of socially awkward girl who never learned to think before she spoke, and thus, "Baldy" was more of her instinctive way of referring to him, rather than a playful nickname like that of "Pinky-Pie" that she had for Keilana. She was really just there to look after her, as they were best friends.

Numbuh 2476 was a 16 year-old "cat-girl" (Numbuh 1 couldn't quite remember the correct pronunciation of her species) with lightly colored, snow leopard-like fur. She also had very long, golden hair in the same style as Keilana's (they liked having the same hairstyle). She was born but not raised, on some strange planet that Numbuh 1 really thought was made up when she first described what she herself could barely remember (surprisingly, one of the very few things that she clearly remembered from her original home planet was the name that she had received, which was Vashiri), as it was supposedly filled with the kind of stuff that he'd only seen in Numbuh 2's RPGs back on Earth. He could have sworn that she called it – _Nirn_ – or something along those lines. As a little kitten, she supposedly wandered away from her clan's campground in the middle of the night, and wandered into a research ship belonging to a person who was studying her planet, and accidently stowed away when they left. Not willing to go back, the researcher on that ship kindly took her in and raised her as his own on another world, where she was raised and was eventually recruited into the Kids Next Door of her planet as a pilot, eventually learning to be a damn good engineer as well, worked her way up, and then was finally scouted into the RND at about the same time as Numbuh 1, give or take a month. Her initially off-putting personality was what made her nickname of "Hello Kitty" ironic and thus so damn funny because of it. "This part is basically finished now. I just need to clean it out, install it, and then we're good to get off of this dying rock." She turned back to her work and continued, causing even more sparks to jump out.

Numbuh 1 turned to look back at the large, city-village that now had a sparse population. He felt immensely guilty and angry at himself for leaving without getting those people to safety. _I'm so sorry,_ he thought, _we failed to protect you._

* * *

(The Cul-de-sac)

Samurai Jack slowly eased back into consciousness. He was able to hear faint voices, but nothing more than that. His eyes tried to open, but they just couldn't yet, though he faintly saw flashes of light. A little later, as his consciousness finished coming back to him, he felt that he was on a bed, at which point, he opened his eyes immediately and saw the three boys that he had seen the night before, "Who . . ." he looked around at his strange surroundings, ". . . are you?"

They had brought Jack into Eddy's room, since the houses of Double D and Ed were huge messes from their ordeal, two days ago.

Double D could hardly restrain himself and immediately began talking. "Good sir, did you know that you have recently become the first human to experience first-hand, the super-scientific phenomena known as interdimensional travel?!"

"Um . . . no?" said Jack, hardly understanding Double D's rapid-fire inquiry.

"Please excuse my rather overly excited friend," said Eddy, pulling Double D away, "but allow me to introduce, um, – us – my name's Eddy, and this lump over here is Ed," he pointed to a smiling, clueless looking Ed, who was scratching the back of his own head with his long, green tongue, "and of course, you've met Edd, or as we call him, Double D, since his name is spelled with two Ds."

Jack still looked very confused. "I don't get it, why am I here? I must go!" he attempted to get up, but got a sudden rush of light-headedness and simply collapsed back onto the circle-shaped bed (Eddy had a taste for both the tacky and the vintage, as evidenced by his record player, complete with stacks of vinyl records, and his disco mirror ball that hung from his ceiling, among other things as well).

"Whoa there, mister!" said Double D, getting serious now, "You are in no condition to be running about! You've been in an unconscious state for two days! Not to mention the infection that you just barely avoided when I bandaged that cut on your shoulder!"

Jack gained a shocked look on his face, and looked down into his hands, which now felt relatively weak. _Did Aku do this? Did he disrupt the portal while I was going back?!_

"Ed, go bring our guest some food, he must be starving!" said Double D.

"Okey-dokey, Double D!" yelled Ed as he quickly ran out of the room, chuckling to himself.

Jack looked at his caretakers and wondered if all of this was a dream, or if he had really veered into the wrong path within the time-portal, but now that they had mentioned it, he really was hungry – very hungry, in fact, which confirmed to him that this was no dream.

"Where exactly are you from?" asked Double D, holding a notebook and a pen. He looked excited enough to pass out.

Jack considered it for a moment, and then finally decided that there was no harm in telling them his story, "Well, it all began so long ago, I was born and raised in –" he stopped as Ed busted into the room, carrying a large plate of butter toast with gravy, chanting "yum" repeatedly as he handed it to him, "thank you," said Jack, eyeing the food intensely, then immediately began devouring it. After a while, he continued his story in between bites, and eventually explained his entire history up to that point, much to the three Eds' utter admiration and amazement. Later, as he finished, each of their lower jaws was nearly hitting the floor.

"So . . . cool!" yelled Ed, excitedly.

"Jeez," said Eddy, retracting his jaw from the floor.

"Exquisite! Phenomenal! Your dimension sounds absolutely riveting!" exclaimed Double D, who had written almost everything down, "And what an incredible and courageous story! You are truly a hero, and an inspiration to aspiring adventurers such as myself!"

"Um, thank you," said Jack, who was now full.

"But then, you have no connection with the Xenomorph that attacked us recently?" inquired Double D.

"Xeno – what?" asked Jack, perplexed.

"Two days ago, a few hours before we found you, our little cul-de-sac was attacked by an alien, or Xenomorph as they're apparently called, that emerged from the same worm-hole that you came through. Miraculously, we – well mostly due to Ed, were able to barely dispose of it, and that was against one! I'd hate to imagine having to contend with a whole pack of them!" Double D now looked serious again.

Jack thought for a moment, "Have there been any more of them?"

"No, thankfully, but we're not about to let our guard down." Double D then began drawing something in his notebook for a while, "If I remember correctly, it looked something like this," he held up the drawing, which was pretty basic, but still captured all of the main details.

Jack studied it for a moment, "I'm sorry, but even in my world, I have never encountered such a beast," he continued studying the drawing.

Eddy thought for a moment, "Maybe that worm-hole thingie is connecting more than just our two worlds, Double D."

"It is possible that your theory may prove to be right, Eddy, as I was just thinking that very exact thing as well. But the problem that still persists is how do we close it?"

"No, you must not close it!" said Jack, quickly. "I must use it to get back to my original time!"

"But how can you be sure that it won't just throw you into another parallel dimension, again? And what if it were to be a hostile one next time?" asked Double D.

"I'm not sure," said Jack in a somber tone, "but I must try."

There was a sudden knock on the back door which, conveniently, was in Eddy's room.

Eddy walked over to it and opened it just a crack. It was the others, and they looked a little angry.

"Open up, dorks! It's been two days! We want to meet him, already!" yelled Kevin. The others loudly agreed as well.

Eddy quickly shut the door and locked it. He then turned around, wearing a sinister smile.

Double D knew that smile all too well. _Oh no! He's finally cracked! _he thought, immediately springing into action by taking hold of Eddy's shirt collar, "Eddy, whatever you're planning on doing, please don't! Remember the progress that you've made!"

"But . . . I've gotta, Double D!" yelled Eddy, in a pleading tone.

"Eddy, please don't! If you relapse into your avaricious ways now, you'll damage what little respect that they still have for us! I obviously understand how difficult it is to lose our acceptance after having such a brief taste of its sweet, sweet ambrosia, but please Eddy, I implore you – no, I beg you – don't charge them!" Double D was now glaring at him with saddened eyes.

Eddy was in a mental pinch. He knew it was wrong, and so he desperately fought against his urge, but the prospect of the potential monetary gain was almost too much, until suddenly, Double D gave him a firm smack to the face.

"Ouch! Curse my fragile being!" yelled Double D as his bright red hand was pulsating.

Eddy quickly snapped out of it, and then in anger, yelled, "Double D! Why I oughtta –" but then, forgetting his anger, he realized what had just happened. "I . . . I almost made things worse for us, didn't I, Double D?!"

"I'm afraid so, Eddy," said Double D, massaging his still swollen hand, "I've got to say, I'm relieved, though disappointed that I had to snap you out of it – well, manually." _Our acceptance, Ed's tub of gravy, and now, Eddy's moral resolve,_ thought Double D, sadly.

Eddy was at a loss for words, he couldn't believe what had just happened, and what had just been avoided as well. He had almost ruined everything for them. "Double D, I . . ." he looked down, sadly, and then turned towards the door, "I'm sorry. I promise that I'll work towards improving!" He then went to the door and opened it, putting on a fake smile, "come on in guys, sorry about the hold-up, but our guest wasn't decent. We don't wanna give our lovely ladies some mental scars now, do we?"

Nazz just giggled and smiled at him as she walked in, while Sarah just shot him a look of suspicion as she entered next, with Jimmy in tow, as always.

"Is he scary, Sarah?" whimpered Jimmy, hiding his face as he cowered behind her.

"Alright, cut the crap, dorky. How much is this costin' us?" asked Kevin in an annoyed tone.

Eddy briefly felt the choke of temptation, but with great effort, he quickly subdued it and responded, "What are you talking about, Kev? Don't be ridiculous, I'm not going to charge you guys! That's in the past!"

Everyone had the look of puzzled surprise, but then replaced them with those of gratitude.

"Wow, I guess you dorks have at least improved on some aspects," said Kevin, casually strolling past Eddy.

"This is so cool! Thanks, Eddy!" said Nazz, with an even bigger smile now.

Eddy felt a massive amount of relief. He was one more step towards gaining everyone's acceptance again. Now he just had to practice self control in case an opportunity for a scam came up again. _You just wait and see, everyone . . . I will improve!_

* * *

"Here they come!" shouted Numbuh 529, readying his Solar-Rifle.

The others did the same. They were all on the sentry posts that were on top of the fifty foot wall that surrounded the capital Kiatuan village. The only member who was absent was Numbuh 2476, as she was busy installing the last component on their ship that would allow them to escape this forsaken planet.

The immense horde of about six hundred Xenomorphs charged from the canyons towards the village, in anticipation of another night of feasting. Their echoing shrieks, in combination with the almost freezing temperature, sent shivers up everyone's spine.

"Steady!" yelled Numbuh 529, "Nobody fire! We don't want them breaking formation just yet! Numbuh 5120, on your mark, detonate."

"Yes sir!" he responded. Numbuh 5120 was their main weapons-engineer, as well as their explosives-expert. He was 21 years old, though he was still one rank under Numbuh 529, and just like him and Numbuh 860, was another one of those strange non-Earthling humans, who in this particular case, had light-green skin, yellow eyes, and very dark, forest-green hair.

The Xenomorphs were closing in fast, and were now about a quarter mile away. Their horrible shrieking got even worse.

Numbuh 5120 knew that they were now in range and flipped the switch on his detonator, causing a massive line of explosions along the aliens' frontline, instantly incinerating about a third of them.

"For our fallen friends!" shouted Numbuh 529, aiming down his sights.

The pressure and heat from the explosions reached even the operatives as they opened fire to roast the many that remained, sending concentrated beams of sunlight from their solar-rifles, which eventually overheated, so they stopped to let them cool down.

The aliens that weren't instantly fried continued their relentless charge. When they finally reached the wall, they launched themselves onto it and began climbing up.

"It's almost finished, guys, over!" Numbuh 2476's voice came from their communicators.

At this point, everyone opened fire again, taking out many of the aliens that were climbing, but only more came to take their place and thus, they had to draw their military machetes while their main weapons cooled down. They spread out to avoid splashing the Xenomorphs' acidic blood on each other (the blackened blades were designed to be unaffected by it.)

Numbuh 1 quickly impaled one on its long, black, eyeless head, sending it falling to the ground, and did the same to the ones that were lined up behind it as they came up.

The other operatives did this as well. But then, the horrid creatures seemed to catch onto what they were doing, and so when they were about ten feet from the top, they launched themselves up the rest of the way, landing near where the operatives stood. Everyone fought fearlessly and ferociously, dodging teeth, claws, and spiked tails as best as they could.

Numbuh 1 struck down the next Xenomorph, and dodge-rolled away from another. He then heard a series of beeps from his solar-rifle, as did the others, at which they all quickly sheathed their machetes and opened fire once again, but there were just too many.

"Hey, derps, start heading over here! It should be finished by the time you arrive, over!" said Numbuh 2476's voice from the communicators again.

"Understood, and good job, over." Numbuh 529 turned to the others, "Fall back, then! Head to the Doom-Buggies!"

Just then, Numbuh 3765, who was their assistant weapons-engineer, was dragged off of the side of the wall by two aliens.

"Bastards!" yelled Numbuh 529, shooting into the cluster of Xenomorphs, flash-frying seven more with well placed shots. After a few more shots, his weapon soon overheated again and he took off after the other operatives, drawing his two machetes to deal with any enemies that attempted to intercept him. A group of them soon got in his way, but he just sliced through them all without even slowing down.

Numbuh 860 did the same, for she was ahead of everyone else as they headed down the stairs that went down the side of the wall, leading into the ghost town. She ran through entire packs of them when they got in her way, slicing what she could, never losing momentum, and fully confiding in her comrades to finish off whatever she didn't.

Numbuh 1 was right behind her and scouted for any danger that came from the sides or from the roofs of the surrounding buildings.

Suddenly, Numbuh 5120, who brought up the rear, slowed down, eventually stopping in his tracks and then fell to his knees.

Numbuh 1 quickly turned around to check what happened, as did Numbuh 860, and they saw that he had collapsed completely now, and was lying in a small puddle of blood.

"Numbuh 5120, what the hell happened?!" they yelled as they rushed over to him.

They noticed that he had a severe wound on his chest that continued to bleed.

"Talk, damn you!" yelled Numbuh 860, tears forming in her eyes.

"Leave me! I've lost too much blood! I'll just slow you down and die on the way to the ship anyway!" he pointed to a long trail of blood droplets on the path behind them.

"When did it happen?" asked Numbuh 1, worriedly.

"Happened up on the wall. Damn Xenomorph got me pretty good with its tail!" he was now nearly whispering, "Just go! I've prepared for this!" breathing heavily, he took his hand out of his pocket and held a detonator that had a plastic cover over the switch. "Pinky-Pie, if you ever head back home . . . please tell my sister that I love her, and I'm sorry." He took the cover off and then pushed them away with what little strength he had left, "Go! Before they get here!" he strained himself to yell.

Numbuhs 1 and 860 were shocked, but they understood and left quickly, with their hearts full of sorrow. Numbuh 860 still cried, even while she ran.

Numbuh 5120 had been her team-leader, as well as a sort of mentor, though he was only six years older than she was. On top of that, he had been her first real friend when she first came to the RND about six months before Numbuhs 1 and 2476 did. Because Numbuh 529 had been the first human, since the founding team many decades ago, to join the RND (at only the age of 8!), followed by Numbuh 5120 (at age 15) about six years later, and then Numbuh 860 (age 15 as well) another six years after that, she didn't fit in with the other species, nor did they attempt to make her feel welcome. That was, until Numbuh 5120 took her under his wing and made her his second in command, always telling her that she reminded him of his little sister, back home.

They continued running through the streets, and suddenly heard an explosion, followed by the usual cacophony of shrieking, behind them. She cried even more intensely now. Numbuh 1 wanted to as well, but he held in his tears. He needed to be strong for her.

They sprinted towards the sandstone bell-tower where they had parked their Doom-Buggies (one was gone, for Numbuh 2476 had taken it), which were large, six-person, high-tech, armored dune-buggies that had a swiveling platform on the back that held a turret which could alternate between solar beams or rockets. They reached them and briefly awaited the others, who quickly showed up as well. Since there were only six of them left (another operative apparently didn't make it), they took three Doom-Buggies by splitting up into three pairs, with one person driving, and one person shooting.

"We started a really big fire, so they should be held up a little while," yelled Numbuh 529 as he ran over to one of the Doom-Buggies, and climbed into it.

Numbuh 1 turned towards Numbuh 860 and gently pulled her in close, "Are you sure that you're okay to drive?" he asked, concerned.

"Yeah . . . I'll be okay," she responded, wiping her tears away.

Numbuh 1 held her a moment more, and then pulled her into a loving embrace. "Don't worry, everything will get better," he whispered into her ear.

Numbuh 860 also held him just as tightly, and thanked him for always making her feel better.

They parted and he gave her a pecking kiss on the cheek and climbed into the turret operator's seat. "Alright, Beautiful, let's roll out!" he looked over to his left and saw that Numbuh 529 had manned the turret on his buggy as well.

"Where's Numbuh 5120?" he asked Numbuh 1, perplexed.

Numbuh 1 looked down sadly, and just shook his head.

Numbuh 529's face became evident with anger, but he nodded, both in response as well as in understanding of the explosion that he had heard earlier.

They all reversed out of their respective parking spots and, talking on their communicators, decided on which route to take. They quickly headed out to cross the village, for the ship was in the desert beyond the western wall. Numbuhs 1 and 860 brought up the rear as they sped through bumpy dirt-roads, and zipped around sharp corners, navigating the streets as fast as they could without wrecking.

Numbuh 1 switched the settings on his turret to solar-beams and took aim. The horde was going to show up any second.

The sound of shooting emanated from the buggy at the forefront.

"The damn things flanked us!" yelled Numbuh 529, who then begun shooting towards the top of the buildings. They were running along the roofs, and though they weren't as fast as the vehicles, they made up for this in sheer numbers, as many clambered onto the buildings ahead of them.

Now all three of the turret operators opened fire on the top of the buildings and stopped many of the aliens from jumping onto the vehicles. But the creatures would not give up. Numbuh 1 turned around to face the streets and fired on the few extraordinarily fast Xenomorphs that were able to nearly match or even surpass their speed. He took many of them down before they rounded a sharp corner, causing the many that remained to slip as they tried to turn as well, thus crashing into the opposite buildings. Numbuh 529 shot a rocket to that same building, effectively blowing it apart and therefore blocking the road behind them. But there was still the danger of those that were above them. They were now about a half-mile from the western gate, which was going to have to be blown apart.

"There's the final stretch!" sounded Numbuh 529's voice from their communicators. "I'll open the gate, Numbuhs 1 and 13,292 (_the other turret operator_), you guys cover me, over!"

And that they did, shooting at every alien that came within so much as one-hundred feet from them, while Numbuh 529 shot three rockets at the massive double-gate's center, flinging both of its doors open. Once out in the desert, they broke from their single-file formation and drove side-by-side, with Numbuh 529's buggy in the center. They immediately accelerated now that they were in an open road.

The Xenomorphs from the village continued their chase, but some were already in the desert, and pounced out of the sand, landing on the buggies.

"Did these freakin' things just ambush us?! Over!" yelled Numbuh 529, as his and Numbuh 13,292's drivers barely managed to shake theirs off. They then proceeded to fire on the other packs that emerged as well.

But Numbuh 860 wasn't so fortunate, as the Xenomorph that landed on her Doom-Buggy happened to land in a position on the front passenger window that wasn't so easy to shake off. It stabbed its tail at her, but thankfully couldn't reach. "Nigel, help!" she shouted, swerving some more in order to at least get it off-balance.

"Hold on, Keilana!" shouted Numbuh 1 as he unbuckled himself from the turret seat and hopped into the vehicle's back-row.

"Numbuh 1, do you want me to try to shoot it off? Over." sounded Numbuh 529 through the communicator.

"No, leave it to me, besides, on the off-chance that you miss, it would cause some damage to the vehicle, over," he responded, as the creature climbed up onto the roof.

"Fine, but, you do know that I wouldn't miss, right? Over."

"Yeah, I know, but I want this one, myself! Over," Numbuh 1 exclaimed, unsheathing his machete, but the creature was nowhere to be seen. Then, a sudden bump on the trail bounced him up, causing him to hit his head on the vehicle's roof. As he fell to the ground, the alien struck through the window with its tail, but Numbuh 1 was already on the floor, making it miss. He quickly took a swing at it from the floor, but it retracted its tail in time and climbed up onto the roof again. He then quietly got into a kneeling position and waited for it to strike again. Another bit of turbulence in the trail caused the Xenomorph to bump into the side of the buggy that it was holding on to, which Numbuh 1 heard. He immediately ran over to the corresponding window and stabbed in its general direction. A very high-pitched shriek followed, and then the buggy's balance shifted, indicating that the Xenomorph had fallen off. He then immediately rushed back onto the turret platform, buckled himself in, and fired on a nearby pack that was inching closer and closer.

"Nice! I saw that from here! Over," cheered Numbuh 529.

"Thanks," replied Numbuh 1, "it's just that when someone messes with my girl, then they're mine to punish! Over."

Numbuh 529 just smiled in response, even though he knew that Numbuh 1 couldn't see._ I'm proud of you, Nigel, _he thought.

"There's the ship! Over," yelled Numbuh 13,292, who was now ahead of them all.

Numbuh 1 looked back and noticed that the Xenomorph hordes were long behind them. "Now's our chance to make an escape, Captain! Over."

"Alright, good. Numbuh 2476, we need you to open the vehicle ramp now! Over," shouted Numbuh 529.

"Sure thing, Captain Handsome! Also, I finished, like, a minute ago, over," replied Numbuh 2476 as she initiated the ship's start-up systems, and pulled the control lever for the ship's spacious cargo area.

_I hate it when she calls me that!_ thought Numbuh 529, shuddering.

Everyone tried to contain their laughter as they neared the ship. Upon arrival, they drove up its ramp, and then once inside, they parked on three of eight vehicle-holding spaces, thus activating large slabs of metal that came out of the floor and hooked into specially designated slots on the sides of the Doom-Buggies.

Once they were all off, they proceeded into the also spacious personnel area, which was really just a big recreational room, usually full of stuff to keep operatives entertained on long voyages. It included a massive monitor, for which to play video games, both from alien worlds, as well as from Earth (provided by Numbuh ∞'s department, as he was the Kids Next Door of Earth's ambassador to the RND), fitness equipment, sparring equipment, pool tables (which actually got popular among the alien races), and other assorted pleasantries. Almost everything had been broken when they crashed, though. Passing it, they went down a long hallway into the command bridge, where Numbuh 2476 was manning the ship's main controls. "I didn't have enough time to fix the heating system in here, so it might get a little chilly once we hit space." She pushed some buttons on the control deck, "but if you would like, Captain, I can warm you up!"

Numbuh 529 shuddered again, "Just get us out of here." he then plunked down in the Captain's seat. The others, who were all laughing, proceeded down the steps surrounding it and sat out in the other stationary chairs, finally relaxing.

"Already on it!" said Numbuh 2476, flipping the switch for the ship's anti-gravity engine. The entire thing shook violently as it rose from the sand, and when it was a good eighty feet in the air, she took hold and slid forward its thruster controls, allowing it to accelerate forward, at which she then twisted the handles back (which, to Numbuh 1, always looked like she was revving a motorcycle) so that it could gain altitude, eventually going up into the higher layers of the atmosphere, and then finally into space, where they accelerated even more.

It suddenly grew very cold, but that was soon a mere afterthought when they made a startling discovery.

Numbuh 1, in particular, shot up out of his seat, as angry as he had ever been. "What's going on?! What the hell is this?!"

* * *

Kevin, Nazz, Rolf, Sarah, and Jimmy (who had fainted a few times) listened in awe as Jack relayed his story once more.

"Whoa, man," mumbled Kevin.

The others were just speechless.

"Alright everyone, let's leave Mister Jack to his rest," said Double D, slightly pushing them all out.

"Fine, we'll go, but when he rests up, we wanna hang with him, alright!" yelled Kevin as they all walked out.

"Yes, yes, we'll be sure to bring him along," said Double D, quickly shutting the door. "Whew!" he turned back towards Jack, "I'm so sorry about that! I didn't think that they would ask so many questions!"

"Do not worry about it. I enjoy making new friends," Jack smiled in assurance as he relaxed back onto the bed.

"Well, then, I think it's only fair that we explain our history as well," said Double D, I'll begin.

Then, for the next two hours or so, all three of the Eds explained how they had met, some of their more memorable past adventures, which made Jack crack up in hysterical laughter at times, and then told him of their recent rise to and fall from acceptance, detailing the incident with Eddy's brother which led into their battle with the alien that had put them in their current position, at which he offered condolences, and put them at relative ease, both with ancient Japanese proverbs as well as with lessons learned from his own experiences, which they thanked him for.

When he was feeling better, they all took Jack on a tour of their neighborhood, trying their best to avoid the others while they did, so as not to overwhelm Jack with their incessant questions, after which, they led him to the bright and dark worm-hole in the alley, which he kneeled down to examine.

"Indeed, these are the same elements that composed the other portals," he said.

"Which are . . . ?" asked Double D.

"Light and darkness."

"Wait . . . what! You've got to be kidding me!" Double D kneeled down, as did the other Eds as well, and examined the portal more closely, "Impossible! Shouldn't the light overtake the darkness?" asked Double D in total confusion.

"Yes, but when the light is in complete and total harmony with the dark, it creates an abnormality that defies time and space," answered Jack.

The Eds looked at him in surprise.

"Of course, I may just be repeating what I learned from a trusted friend, back in my world," laughed Jack, scratching the back of his head in modesty.

They turned to walk away, but the air around them began to swirl at an almost unnatural consistency. They immediately turned to see not one, but four Xenomorphs quickly climb out of the worm-hole.

"Run, get out of here!" Jack shouted to the Eds, "I'll deal with them!"

"But Jack, they have acid for blood, man! And you don't even have your swords!" responded Eddy.

_He's right. I'll only cause further injury to myself if I fight them like this!_ thought Jack as he sidestepped the lunge of one of the aliens. He then turned and fled, along with the Eds. They shouted warnings to the others who were playing street-hockey, at which they all ran to Rolf's house again. Jack and the Eds ran to Eddy's house, as that was where the swords were. They ran into the backyard and went directly into his room through the backdoor.

"There's freakin' four of them!" yelled Eddy, panting for breath, he turned towards Jack, who had opened his closet to search for his sword. "Oh yeah, they're under the bed, Jack. I had to hide them from my parents. They never check under there."

There was a shriek just beyond the door as Jack kneeled down by the bed. He reached under and, being in a hurry, pulled out one of Eddy's dirty magazines. Double D's face went red as he looked away, while Ed just laughed.

"Gimme that!" yelled Eddy, snatching the magazine from him, "These are for . . . research!"

Jack just smiled in mild embarrassment, and then reached under again, this time pulling out both his sword and the Time Guardian's light-sword, which he handed to Eddy.

"What do you want me to do with this?" he asked, reluctantly taking it.

"I need you to protect your friends in case one of those foul beasts comes in here when I'm not around," said Jack, strapping his holy-sword into place, and then unsheathing it. The shrieking from outside of the door continued, followed by a scratching noise. "Eddy, I hope you forgive me for this," Jack said as he went up to the door and cleanly stabbed through it. There was a short, sharp screech, and then silence. Jack pulled his blade out and opened the door. Once outside, he ran out to the center of the cul-de-sac, where two of the remaining three Xenomorphs ran out to him. He effortlessly cut down the first one but just as he did, the second lashed its tail out to him. Barely missing, it jumped back, and circled around him. Jack was completely stationary, relying on his eyes when it was in front, and relying on his ears when it was behind or on either side of him. When it was at his side and lunged, he simply raised his left hand, which already held the sword, and impaled it in mid-air. _That was easy, but weren't there four of them? The boys!_ he immediately ran back to Eddy's house.

Meanwhile, Eddy held the completely white blade in his hands, really unsure of what to do.

"Eddy, we better hide! We don't have our Canadian squirt-guns!" yelled Double D.

Almost as if on cue, one of the Xenomorphs broke through Eddy's window and landed on the circle-bed.

"Run away!" yelled Ed, who simply turned and broke through Eddy's bedroom door.

But the others were half-frozen with fear, particularly Eddy, who shook as he tried to raise the brightly shining sword. He began backing up and swung out of desperation, but it was too early and he missed. The Xenomorph then stabbed its tail at him, at which he instinctively flinched, making it graze his right cheek. He was now completely against the wall, and had the possibility of death repeatedly racing through his head.

"Eddy, duck down!" yelled Double D, who had somehow regained some sense.

Eddy quickly let himself go limp, dropping down just as the alien stabbed its tail into his wall, and quickly, though sloppily, rolled away from the alien, stopping just five feet away from it, and swung the katana again, lopping the alien's tail off. The creature turned around and, in a rage, lunged at him. Eddy was sure that he was going to die, and closed his eyes, but then in a last minute decision, he struck out with the blade. The Xenomorph landed just short from him, dead.

Jack, with Ed beside him, stood behind its carcass and sheathed his sword. He had delivered the killing-stroke.

Eddy dropped down to his knees and began sobbing profusely, at which Double D immediately ran over, helped him up, and led him over to a chair.

"Eddy, what's the matter?" he asked in genuine concern.

"I was useless, Double D," his tears continued flowing, "I could have sworn that I was about to die, and I would have, if not for Jack!" he then leaned forward on the chair, resting his elbows on his knees, and cupped his face with his hands, "I couldn't even protect myself, much less you guys!"

Jack looked away out of respect, as Eddy's tears continued. He was truly sad for him, and understood what he was feeling. He had once felt the same way after his first battle with Aku.

Finally, the crying stopped, and Eddy attempted to stand, though he still had wobbly knees, at which Ed and Double D helped and supported him up. "Jack," he said, with his head hanging down, "I need . . . to ask you a favor," he picked his head up to now look him straight in the eyes.

Jack looked back towards him, and nodded in response.

"I need to know . . . if you would train us," said Eddy in a very serious tone, "to protect not just our own lives, but our friends and families as well!"

Jack didn't even need to think it over. "Of course . . . we begin tomorrow."

* * *

"This can't be right!" yelled Numbuh 529, enraged. "What the hell were they doing?!"

There, about one-hundred miles ahead of them, was the huge space-station that was their HQ.

"Sir, should I attempt to contact them?" asked Numbuh 13,292, holding the ship's transmitter.

"No, let them contact us when they detect us. Numbuh 2476, I want to get in there as soon as possible, so activate the auxiliary boosters," Numbuh 529 sat back down, absent-mindedly gripping the handles on his machetes while he shivered a little, "I don't like this one bit."

They sped up considerably, and were soon three-quarters of the way there in less than fifteen minutes.

A voice sounded from the ship's speakers, at first it was mostly static, then it cleared up, "(_static_). . . yourself! (_static_) . . . I repeat, identify yourself, over!"

Numbuh 529 didn't answer back.

"Captain?" asked Numbuh 1 as he and Numbuh 860 held each other for warmth.

He thought for a moment, and then pressed a button on his arm-rest. "This is RND First-Class Operative-Elite Captain Numbuh 529 of Planet Tierra, along with my surviving troops, reporting in from the Planet J-036 defense-operation, over."

There was a brief silence, and then the voice came again, "Holy crap, Captain! We thought you guys were dead! Go ahead and dock the ship in Bay 4. Be careful though, we've been under siege for a while, but not at the moment, thankfully. The shields are up, but I'm going to open a temporary opening near your location, over."

Numbuh 529 was intrigued by that final statement, "Proceeding to dock then, over."

Once inside the huge landing bay, the ship violently crashed down, barely missing the other operatives who were now running away.

"Oh yeah, I also didn't have time to fix the landing system," said Numbuh 2476, in embarrassment.

"And you mention this, now!" yelled Numbuh 1, who was on the floor.

Leaving their solar-rifles, they all got off of the ship and were immediately greeted by a team of dark-blue steel-armored soldiers, known as the Honor-Guard, who surrounded a very tall figure that Numbuh 1 recognized as Numbuh 1-Trillion, the Supreme Commander-In-Chief of the Rebels Next Dimension.

Numbuh 1-Trillion wasn't human, but was a seven and a half foot-tall, male Ilumari, who had light-grey skin, and just below shoulder-length black hair that he kept combed-back. His facial features resembled those of a human, except that he had completely white eyes and pointed ears. He wore a black, formal, military-dress suit that was decorated with his many medals and honors, and though he had no physical ailments, he always walked with a huge, fancily decorated walking stick that would slide open to reveal an Ilumari great-sword.

The Ilumari were the near-pinnacle of sentient creation, just one step below Angels, whose job it was to monitor and protect the dimensional boundaries of the Multi-Verse. The Fallen Hand, however, were a splinter-cell of defected and escaped Ilumari war-criminals who strove to conquer every dimension that they could find.

"Sir!" they all yelled and kneeled down as he approached them, except for Numbuhs 1 and 529.

"You may stand," he said upon arrival.

They stood, but continued to look down.

"I'm very sorry that we could not help you," he said in his almost echoing voice.

This time, Numbuh 529 grew fully enraged and charged him, grabbing his medal-covered collar, despite being almost two feet shorter. He had been way too fast for the Honor-Guard, who had just barely pointed their rifles at him. "Sorry?! You're sorry?! I lost almost all of my men down there, and that's all that you can say?! You son of a bitch, I should kill you!"

"I can assure you that we were going to mount a rescue operation as soon as we were able to efficiently handle the siege."

"Liar!"

The others were shocked at his outbursts, including Numbuh 2476, as even she knew to guard her tongue when speaking to Numbuh 1-Trillion.

"Shall we throw him in the brig, sir?" asked one of the Honor-Guard, in a robotic voice due to his helmet.

"That would be highly unnecessary, as I understand how the Captain feels, and would have done the same thing, were I in his position," Numbuh 1-Trillion simply smiled as he said this, and then looked Numbuh 529 in the eyes, "you know that I have always respected and valued your friendship, Numbuh 529, even after you quit your position as head of my Honor-Guard."

Numbuh 529 held his grip on the Commander. He really didn't know what to do now. He was angry, but this man had been his mentor, just as he himself was to Numbuh 1. He then let go, and backed away.

"Numbuh 529, and you as well, Numbuh 1, come, have a quick walk with me to my office," he said, waving his Honor-Guard away, who reluctantly left him.

Numbuhs 529 and 1, who gave a goodbye-hug to Numbuh 860, did as they were told and took a position on either side of him, proceeding up the stairs onto the gigantic station's personnel level, and then took an elevator up to the Executive-Command level, eventually getting to his office, which was an open room with a blue glow to it that had marked maps of various planets pinned to the walls, a large, round table for meetings with the other officers, and a desk that was a mess with stacks of paperwork.

He stood at the far end of the room and then broke the silence, "It's very unfortunate, what happened, but please understand, Captain, that I was in no position to send a team, due to the siege."

They remained silent and unresponsive.

He sat down in his desk and continued, "We're being attacked because we've found out the true intentions of the Fallen Hand's leader."

This immediately got their attention.

"As you both probably already know, Warmaster Surt, the Fallen Hand's leader, was an Ilumari General and inventor who went insanely power-hungry after he used one of his twisted machines to destroy an entire dimensional barrier between two worlds, thus causing them to catastrophically fuse into one another, after which he then absorbed its quantum energy, significantly increasing his power." he shifted in his seat, and then continued, "Well, our official reports say that when his superiors found out about this, they confiscated the machine, and destroyed it, after which he and his subordinates were court-marshaled, and sentenced to death within the Dead-Zone, which held the Quantum Devourers – living black-holes that eat through dimensional matter. But what they didn't know was that he had smuggled in another one of his inventions, which was a small, personal version of the rift-openers that their war-ships had, and thus when they arrived there, he struck a deal with the Quantum-Devourers to spare them, and in return, he would open a temporary portal to allow them all to escape, which they agreed to, as they could not eat their way out of the Dead-Zone for its matter was too inedible and decayed, and this is when they made their escape into the Ilumari ship-hangar, and stole four war-ships," he shifted again, uncomfortably, and then proceeded to stand up before he continued, "well, my point is, that he plans to rebuild that infernal machine, and use it to destroy every barrier there is, effectively collapsing and thus ending the Multi-Verse!"

Numbuhs 1 and 529 were dumbstruck. They knew that he wanted to rule everything, but they didn't know that he wanted to collapse it all as well!

"But he needs certain components that can only be found on certain planets within certain dimensions, which we don't know either one."

"So the Quantum-Devourers are the ones who have been opening all of the permanent worm-holes?" asked Numbuh 1.

"Correct," he replied.

"Why are you telling us all of this?" asked Numbuh 529.

"I tell you because I have deemed you both important enough to know."

"Well, after Planet Kiatu, I don't fully believe that."

There was a brief interlude of silence.

"So the Fallen Hand has found us?" asked Numbuh 1, trying to change the direction of the conversation while staying on topic.

"Indeed. Right after you all left for your mission, we were found and attacked by Fenris' Ilumari war-ship," said Numbuh 1-Trillion, fixing one of the medals on his collar, "and we've been at a stale-mate ever since, though we think that some of her spies and assassins might have infiltrated us already when they broke through a small section in the ship's hull, which we had to seal off."

"Is that why you didn't send the quartering ship?" inquired Numbuh 529.

"No, we still went ahead and sent it, but Fenris blew it down, and it crashed clear across the planet from you guys."

"And the lack of response when we tried to contact you?" he asked, again.

"When she first attacked us, we immediately put up our shields which, as you both know, blocks any communication that exceeds 50,000 miles as well. We can't even call to our other bases for reinforcements right now."

Numbuhs 1 and 529 remained silent, regretting their accusations.

"You know, Numbuh 529, I still feel safer with you in the room than with my entire Honor-Guard," Said Numbuh 1-Trillion, smiling and reminiscing of old-times.

Numbuh 529 looked up at him, "Why? You're the better warrior."

"Actually, I like to think of you as the better warrior."

"What?" Numbuh 529 was surprised by this.

"Think about it, I taught you everything that I know, did I not? And on top of that, you've honed your own unique close-quarters combat techniques by combining that with what you've learned on other planets! You're also a better shot than I am," he lightly laughed as he admitted this, "you're considered the best of the best, even among the other First-Class Operative-Elites, and finally, just as you see in Numbuh 1, a great leader and prospective commander, so do I in you."

Numbuh 529 was dumbstruck again, and stood in even more regret, looking down as a few tears rolled down his cheeks. "Please, forgive me, sir. I truly thought that you had forsaken us."

"There, there. I want you all to rest up. But first, I think some promotions are in order for you two, as well as for your friends, which I'll conduct later."

They both looked up at him in surprise.

"And I'll make sure that the operatives that we sadly lost will be remembered as heroes, with a great memorial service and monument back in Universal Command."

Numbuhs 1 and 529 thanked him. It would not bring them back, but at least they would be revered and not forgotten.

Numbuh 1-Trillion then walked over to them, at which they kneeled, and began speaking, "I now officially award you, Numbuh 529 of Planet Tierra, the rank of –" suddenly the station shook violently, and an explosion sounded nearby. "Damn! They've bypassed our shields!" He immediately picked up his communicator and called all units to mount a counter-offensive. He finally turned towards Numbuhs 1 and 529, "Are you well enough to fight?"

"Always, sir," they both said, immediately getting up and running out of the door. But just as it shut behind them, they heard the sound of a solar-rifle firing multiple times within.

They immediately ran back in, but they were too late. Numbuh 1-Trillion was dead, slumped over on his desk. He had been horrifically charred alive.

They both looked away and vomited as the smell of burnt flesh reached them.

Numbuh 529, turning back and dropping to his knees, yelled with all that he could muster, "Who the hell did this!"

Numbuh 1 noticed a solar-rifle that was by the desk, and then looked up. There was an open vent. But before he could say anything, all eight of the Honor-Guard came rushing into the room and saw the horrible scene, after which they immediately smacked both Numbuhs 1 and 529 with the butt of their rifles, knocking them to the floor.

"What the hell is this?!" yelled the lead Honor-Guard, pointing to the burnt commander.

"An assassin killed him!" shouted Numbuh 1 in defense, "We didn't do it! I promise! They shot from up th-" They struck him a second time, infuriating Numbuh 529, who they hit again as well.

"If I recall correctly, the Captain threatened to kill the Commander-in-Chief back in the Docking Bay!" yelled the lead Honor-Guard, hitting them both once more.

"Numbuh 15,677, look at this! The number on this solar-rifle matches the one that was issued to the Captain!" yelled another of the guards, who had scanned the rifle's code.

"That settles it, then!"

Another explosion sounded, this time even closer, and many operatives ran by the office, shooting behind them.

"Numbuh 1, we've got quite a nasty set of choices here: stay and protect the station, just to be tried and executed afterwards, or let the station be destroyed, as we run away to fight and clear our names another day!" yelled Numbuh 529, who was being restrained on the ground.

Numbuh 1 thought long and hard, trying to determine ways to prove their innocence even after protecting the station that had been his home for the past four-and-a-half years, but he could think of none. He soon decided. "I choose the second one!"

"Good choice!" yelled Numbuh 529, who effortlessly knocked over the guards that restrained him, and then kicked the one that was on Numbuh 1. The remaining guards drew their blackened combat knives and rushed at them, but they drew their machetes and, striking with the flat of their blades, knocked them all out.

"Alright, now how do we get out of here, Numbuh 1?" asked Numbuh 529, looking around, "we can't just go out of that door or we'll get swept up in the battle."

"The vent! The one that the assassin used!" pointed Numbuh 1.

"What?"

"Earlier, I noticed that the cover was missing, and being right over the desk, it was the perfect place to strike from!"

"I see. Alright then, let's go!"

"Nigel, it's Keilana, where are you and what's going on? Over," came her voice from Numbuh 1's communicator.

"I'll explain in docking bay 4. Meet us there!"

"Okay then."

Once they were inside of the vent, they crawled a long distance until they came to a wall that was conveniently in front of the elevators. They hesitated when they saw a bunch of operatives running passed it, but when the coast seemed to be clear, they removed the vent's cover, got out, and ran over to them, where Numbuh 529 used his emergency code to bypass all elevator stops, taking them straight to the bay level.

They ran out to their previous ship and found Numbuhs 860 and 2476 awaiting them.

"Captain!" shouted Numbuh 2476 in joy, jumping on him.

"Agh! Off! Off!" screamed Numbuh 529, desperately struggling.

"What happened, Nigel?" asked Numbuh 860.

"Well, uh, we've just been framed for Numbuh 1-Trillion's assassination."

"What?!" She and 2476 yelled in unison.

"It's a long story, but right now we've got to get out of here!" yelled Numbuh 1.

"But, where will we go?" she replied sadly.

"I don't know, but –"

"Maybe you should check on your home planet, Numbuh 1," suggested Numbuh 529, who had finally managed to escape from Numbuh 2476's affections.

"What? I'd like that very much, but I can't just abandon you guys!"

"But, you won't be. It'll just be temporary. We'll go to check on our home planets as well. We'll keep in touch, but minimally, cause it can be traced, and then, if your planet is safe, we'll meet up again and launch our own attacks on the Fallen Hand!" he exclaimed.

"But . . . Keilana . . ."

"It's okay, Nigel," she embraced him, "Just keep in touch with me, and we'll be fine. Besides, I need to deliver a message to Numbuh 5120's sister anyway, and this will be my only chance."

"Don't worry, Baldy, I'll keep a good eye on her for ya," said Numbuh 2476.

Numbuh 1 thought about it as the station shook again with another explosion, but they remained unmoving. "Just promise me that you'll stay safe." She did and they shared a deep, passionate kiss, and then parted.

"Numbuh 1, take Numbuh 5120's ship, it's the one just across the bay – D-Ship 123. I'm sure he would have wanted you to have it. Oh and here," he quickly wrote something down on a slip of paper that he had in his pocket. It was kind of smeared, but still legible. "Sorry, being a lefty and wearing gloves tends to smear the writing. Don't read it until you're in a safe spot." He smiled as he shook Numbuh 1's hand, "Until next time, Nigel."

"Same here, Salvador."

* * *

Once inside Numbuh 5120's large war-ship, Numbuh 1 started it up, and when it was thoroughly ready, he initiated its lift, and then proceeded to head out into the vast emptiness of space. He pulled out his small personal journal and looked up where he had written down his dimension and planet ID, and then started entering them into the ship's rift-opener control deck.

_I'm finally going to see everyone after such a long time. I hope that I haven't changed too much._

But then, just before the dark-purple and bright-yellow temporary rift could open, Fenris' ship launched a missile that struck the ship's rear, causing him to mess up the settings on his rift-opener.

"Oh no! Crap! Crap! Crap!" shouted Numbuh 1, trying desperately to change them back, but it was futile as the portal was already opening, and then sucked the ship in.

There was an incomprehensible mess of colors swirling all around him for a short period of time, until they finally opened up, revealing a moon-lit field of flowers, onto which the ship then crashed-landed and slid about thirty feet before stopping, causing Numbuh 1 to bang his head on the steering controls and black-out for a moment. After he slowly awoke, he immediately ran a system's check.

"Systems check . . ." said the female, computer voice, "complete . . . All systems normal."

"Oh, thank god!" said Numbuh 1 as he slowly got up from his chair. He immediately shut the ship's main systems off to avoid flashing any unnecessary light, and switched on the Rift-Opener computer, which revealed that he was in a different dimension than he intended, and that it would take one week to recharge, which made Numbuh 1 groan. He looked out of the window.

_It looks like Earth . . . better go investigate._ Looking around, he found his solar-rifle and machete, which he immediately slung around himself and belted, respectively. He then went into the ship's equipment room and, shutting the door behind him first, turned on the light to behold a stunning array of various quantities of different armored-uniforms, as well as a variety of technological pieces, most which he had never seen before, even within the RND's First-Class Operatives. But then he came across what he was after – a simple pair of sleekly designed and compact, night-vision goggles.

After activating the ship's cloaking device remotely from outside, he turned and scouted the immediate area, following the direction of the moon, eventually coming to a road.

_Yes! I seem to have stumbled onto a seemingly peaceful and normal alternate-Earth! At least I don't have to deal with any aliens or anything like that._ He began walking along the road until he came across a sign that read "Peach Creek, 1-Mile".

_Well then, I guess I'm going to Peach Creek tomorrow._ He then turned back towards the ship to finally, after so many fearful and restless nights, get some well-deserved sleep.

* * *

(Cue ending theme: Maon Kurosaki - "Return to Destiny" - 00:00 to 01:22)

**To Be Continued. . .**

**Next Episode: Heroes United! The Quest Begins**


	3. Heroes United! The Quest Begins

(I do not own any of these properties! All rights go to their respective owners and affiliates!)

Author's note: Okay, due to one of my readers' reactions to this episode, I have to say this as a heads-up for all of the "Plank" fans out there: don't worry! He'll be back later – just, in a creepy, supernatural way. (Epic Foreshadowing!)

* * *

Previously on Codename: Warriors Next Dimension: Numbuh 1, formerly of the Kids Next Door of Earth, and now member of the "Galactic Kids Next Door" (or as it turned out, the Rebels Next Dimension) was stranded in a nightmare of a mission that did not go according to plan. After having lost many team-mates, as well as most of the population that they were supposed to be protecting, he and his surviving friends decided to abandon the mission and finally finished repairing their ship to escape. But not before an immense horde of about six-hundred Xenomorphs tried to overtake them, after which they were barely able to make it off of the planet, though not without suffering more casualties.

Meanwhile elsewhere, Samurai Jack, having been nursed back to health by the three Eds, who had found him by the worm-hole in the cul-de-sac's alley-way, awoke in Eddy's room. After exchanging his history with the Eds as well as the others, four more Xenomorphs came through the worm-hole to wreak more havoc upon the little community. Thankfully, Jack was able to make quick work of them all, but not before Eddy was almost killed, until Jack saved him at the last second. Afterward, Eddy, feeling useless to protect his friends, asked Jack if he could train them all to be able to protect their loved ones, at which Jack immediately agreed to.

Finally, back in the other dimension, Numbuh 1 and his friends were able to get back to their massive space-station HQ, which had been under siege by a war-ship belonging to one of the leaders of The Fallen Hand – a group of escaped interdimensional war-criminals, who sought to have every dimension under their tyrannical rule. Upon arrival, they were greeted by the RND's Leader himself, who wished to apologize for their previous situation, as he could not send reinforcements due to the siege. Later, just as he was about to promote Numbuh 1 and Numbuh 529, who was Numbuh 1's current mentor and teacher, the ship was attacked again. But just as they ran out to join their fellow operatives in defending the station, Numbuh 1-Trillion, their leader, was assassinated, and the killer had used Numbuh 529's solar-rifle to do it. After they were blamed for it, they had two choices: stay to protect the ship, just to be tried and executed afterward, or to let the ship be destroyed while they escaped to fight and clear their names another day. Choosing the latter over the former, a brief battle ensued with Numbuh 1-Trillion's Honor-Guard, and once victorious, they made their escape, with Numbuh 1 taking a ship to check up on his home planet, and his friends taking another to check up on theirs. But something went wrong. Just as he was inputting the coordinates for Earth, the war-ship that had been laying siege upon the space-station launched a missile that struck the back of his ship causing him to accidently input the wrong coordinates, and thus sent himself to the Eds' dimension!

* * *

(Cue opening theme: Dragonforce - "Heroes of Our Time" - 00:00 to 02:12)

**Codename: Warriors Next Dimension**

**Season 1: Quantum Genesis – Episode 3: Heroes United! The Quest Begins**

(D-Ship 123, the following morning)

Numbuh 1 awoke, finally having rested properly after such a long time. He had slept in the main quarters, which had a large bed, its own fridge (which was mostly empty, save for a few bottles of water), a giant monitor that was opposite of the bed, and walls that were decorated with Numbuh 5120's various awards and honors for his many advancements in the RND's ranks and technology. Despite the age difference, he and Numbuh 1 were both First Lieutenants.

He did nothing for a few minutes other than to lie in bed, thinking on the life-changing events of the previous evening. It wasn't until he somewhat came to terms with what happened that he rose and went into the bathroom for a shower, which was just beyond a doorway in the room.

After he was refreshed, he went to the ship's dining area, which was located down the hall from the officer's quarters, and ate a quick breakfast (even though it was already 2:00 PM – he had arrived here and gone to sleep at around 5:00 AM) which just consisted of the RND's equivalent of an M.R.E. (of which, there was a fully-stocked pantry), and then decided to explore the ship for a bit.

The ship was nearly eighty feet wide and tall, two-hundred feet long, it was square towards the back, and round towards the front. Internally, it consisted of four floors, or levels. The bottom level, referred to as the "Wirework" within the RND, was where an engineer could conduct maintenance and repairs to any of the ship's various systems. The bottom-middle floor was the storage level, which was nothing but a long hall-way that had the food pantry, the equipment and supplies store-room, the weapons armory, and a room which had a heavily armored door that required an unknown pass code to open. At the far-end of the hall-way was another door that led into the ship's vehicle and cargo area. Next, the top-middle level was the barracks level, which had ten sleeping-quarters, a kitchen, and the dining area. Finally, the top level was the personnel area, which contained only three large rooms – a recreation room for relaxing and entertainment, a fitness and combat training room, and finally, the main command bridge. This was the large, circular room where the highest ranking officer obviously commanded while his subordinates navigated and piloted the ship, received and made communications, as well as operated and monitored the ship's various defense, attack, and travel systems. All levels could be accessed via an elevator or stairs during emergencies.

Numbuh 1 proceeded down into the storage level, where he considered going into the weapons armory, but then decided against it as the strange room towards the back caught his attention. He walked further down the hall-way and stopped in front of its door, which actually looked like a vault-door. He looked around for any clues as to what the pass code was, but obviously could find none. He then turned to his left and proceeded down the end of the hallway, and went through the door that led to the cargo area. What he saw intrigued him.

The spacious cargo area contained four Doom-Buggies, as well as various machinery and equipment to repair and maintain them. But this wasn't what intrigued him. Right beside the buggies, was a big and tall machine that was partially covered with a massive dust cover. He quickly went down the flight of stairs and ran across the open room, eventually stopping before the object. He now knew what it was, and immediately took the cover off. It was a fierce looking, but otherwise unfinished mech, for it was missing an arm and was still hooked up to a programming dais, at which he felt a little disappointed.

He walked over to the buggies and inspected them, finding that they were all practically brand new, but missing their ignition keys. He looked in their various compartments, as well as around their immediate area, but still could not find them. Giving up and even more disappointed now, he walked back up the stairs to the storage level. As soon as he was half-way down the hallway, he remembered about Numbuh 529's note in his pocket. He pulled it out and unfolded it. It was nothing but a sequence of numbers.

_What the hell is this?_ he thought, frantically trying to decipher them. But then it hit him. _'Don't read it until you're in a safe spot.'_ He laughed to himself, finally realizing that his mentor meant "safe" as in a vault. He promptly turned and went back to the vault-door where he entered the sequence, at which it beeped loudly and made a series of other sounds, undoing its various locking mechanisms and eventually swinging open slowly. A strange blue glow emanated out from it.

Numbuh 1 stepped in and realized that the glow was coming from a computer screen that displayed a set of three different file icons. But the one that caught his attention was one that said: "Read only in the event of the RND's destruction". He quickly shut the vault-door behind him and turned an orange valve to lock it, even though no one else was in the ship. Then, sitting in a green chair that was in front of the computer, he opened the file. It read as follows:

_This is a message from Numbuh 5120, head weapons and tech engineer of the RND. Whoever you are, if you are reading this, it is either because I have died or the RND has already been destroyed, or both. You are also mainly reading this because Numbuh 529 thinks that you are worthy enough to know. My revelation is thus: During my days of spying on the Fallen Hand, I was tasked by them (read that as forced) to hack into the RND's highest priority files, and found out something that I was definitely not supposed to. I stumbled into a strange, remote file that was connected to the Fallen Hand's information network, and even more alarming was that the file was in a section that could only be accessed by someone who was high up within the officer's ranks of the RND! This means that there is an as-of-yet nameless spy that has been parading as one of our higher-ups while siphoning information to the Fallen Hand. What that information consists of is even more disturbing, as it detailed not only entire dimensions, but specific planets that were untouched by Warmaster Surt's twisted campaign. This is how they were able to beat us to those worlds before we even had a chance to set up a defensive or extraction operation. This devilish spy/assassin also seems determined to usurp Numbuh 1-Trillion, by means of assassination, to become the leader of the RND in order to destroy us from the inside! We cannot and must not let that happen! So for the sake of insurance, without the Fallen Hand's knowledge, I hacked into their files as well as the RND's files that contained the siphoned information and proceeded to extract to my personal records, and then delete, certain dimensions and planets that are key to victory, because they contain either powerful warriors or brilliant minds that could turn the tide of the war. These dimension and planet IDs can be found in one of the other two files on this computer. They must not become known to either the Fallen Hand or the RND! The course of this blasted war is in your hands. Rebuild the RND, and make it greater than ever._

Numbuh 1 closed the file and then leaned back in his chair in utter disbelief. _He and Numbuh 529 knew of what would eventually happen._ He then proceeded to open the second file, which was labeled "Key Planets and Dimensions" but found an incomprehensible mess of numbers that were scattered around seemingly random letters. He quickly got out of that file and opened the last one. It contained the entire catalogue of blue-prints for Numbuh 5120's inventions, including some that he had never seen before, even in the supplies and equipment store-room the previous night. Then at the bottom of the file, he saw a dimension and planet ID next to an unknown name – Dexter. He quickly copied them into his Journal.

Seeing what he needed to see, he got up from the computer and looked around the room. He spotted a small metal box next to the computer that was missing a lock. Opening it, he found four similar keys and one larger key that he assumed were for the vehicles in the cargo area. Taking one of the keys, he turned to leave the room, but then took out his journal again to copy the vault's pass-code from Numbuh 529's note, which he then destroyed, and then headed for the cargo bay, activating the vault's security system again when he left it.

Making sure that he had his weapons and communicator, he got into one of the Doom-Buggies, and remotely opened the ship's ramp. He then headed out onto the road, towards Peach Creek.

* * *

(The Cul-De-Sac)

"Good . . . again!" yelled Samurai Jack, as he yelled through one of Double D's megaphones. He had been putting the three Eds, as well as Kevin and Rolf, when they all weren't at school, through an intense training regiment for the past two months, during which, he had to hold off eight more Xenomorph attacks, the last two of which, he was confident enough to let his students join in, with great results. Kevin and Rolf had joined them after the first week of training out of pride and competitiveness, which became a real nuisance at times, especially when Eddy and Kevin were anywhere near each other. The Eds were now somewhat respected due to their resolve to train to be able to protect their friends, but everyone still blamed them for the worm-hole in the alley.

They were all in the center circle of the cul-de-sac, tiredly but vigorously practicing their swordsmanship with wooden bokken that Jack had carved out of a tree from the neighboring woods, with Nazz, Sarah, and Jimmy watching on lawn-chairs from their front-yards. Yesterday it had been free-running in the branches and treetops of the woods and then along the rooftops of the neighborhood, which Jack had put a stop to once Eddy had fallen off of his own roof and both Double D and Kevin had fallen off of Johnny's roof, all after four hours of continuous free-running. The day before that had been an intense, five-hour session of hand-to-hand combat training, specifically Wing-Chun, in which, like everything else, they were all greatly improving, especially since their comically chaotic first session, in which everyone ended up accidentally injuring everyone else (minus Double D, for he ended up being the first one to lose consciousness that day). But now, they had gotten the hang of controlling their breathing, movements, power, speed, and accuracy, but of course, they still had much, much more to learn. Their first month, minus Sundays, consisted of nothing but long-distance running and calisthenics, which involved them doing sets upon sets of push-ups, squats, back-bridges, etc. as well as tree-climbing in the woods. Jack even taught them the finer-points of evaluative meditation, which could be used as mental training for analyzing past mistakes, both from life in general as well as from battle, and thus learning to overcome and improve upon them.

Jack then had them take a break as he went over some points that they could improve upon. He then went through the movements and had them imitate him, gradually increasing in speed so that they could get used to doing it with the haste and accuracy that real combat required. Once they were all barely able to lift their bokken, Jack called it a day and they all left to hit their respective showers, except for Jack, who had to wait until Eddy was done with his.

Later, Jack and the three Eds decided to head over to Ed's house, which was now fully repaired, and during an afternoon of watching movies, they all heard a strange noise that seemed to come from some sort of large vehicle on the outskirts of the community, though they all dismissed it as nothing more than a passing semi. But the sound kept on getting nearer and nearer, until it seemed to come from right outside of everybody's homes, where it then died down. When everyone looked out of their windows, they noticed that a strange, dangerous-looking vehicle was parked in the middle of the cul-de-sac's center circle.

"Oh no, what now?!" moaned Double D worriedly.

"Should we go check it out?" said Eddy.

"Already going, Eddy! Ahahaha," said Ed, who had turned to head out the door.

Jack quickly grabbed and pulled him back. "I think it would be wise to observe further."

Agreeing, they all turned back to see the driver's door open up, from which a stranger emerged, wearing a strange black jumpsuit that seemed to gleam in places. On his back, he carried what was immediately recognizable as a firearm, and on his right hip was a medium-length sheath that definitely appeared to be for a blade. He had a bald, oval-shaped head, and wore sunglasses.

"Who on Earth could he be?" asked Double D, rhetorically.

"I will go and ask him what he wants," said Jack.

"Naw, man, I'll go with you," said Eddy.

"And I as well," said Double D.

There was silence.

"Where's Ed?" he asked.

Jack looked down and realized that Ed was no longer in his grasp. They quickly looked out and saw that Ed was agitating the stranger by jumping onto his vehicle, and then when he was out of view. They saw a flash of light, followed by the sound of a window shattering somewhere upstairs.

"We have to stop him! Who knows what manner of intentions that stranger has!" yelled Double D.

They all quickly ran out after him.

Numbuh 1 slowed down to a stop – he had reached a dead-end. He looked around at the surrounding houses but there was nobody to be seen. _Sure looks peaceful enough. That's good, but it seems too quiet. Hopefully nothing bad has happened here._ He opened his door and stepped out. _I also hope that I don't cause any alarm._ He looked around some more, trying to spot someone through their window. All of a sudden he heard a sound behind him and he quickly turned around. Someone had gotten onto his buggy and was jumping around on it.

"Cool!" yelled Ed, who had jumped in through a window.

"Hey! Hey! Get off of that! It's dangerous!" shouted Numbuh 1 as he ran over to the other side.

But it was too late, for Ed had already sat down on the turret seat and took hold of its controls.

"Stop!" commanded Numbuh 1.

Ed excitedly fired the turret but ended up shooting his own house, specifically Sarah's window, which seemed to snap him out of it. He quickly got off of the turret.

"Ed! Get over here, right now, mister!" yelled Double D as he ran out onto Ed's lawn, followed by Jack and Eddy.

Ed quickly hustled over to them.

Numbuh 1 hesitated approaching them, but then did so. He immediately cleared his throat and introduced himself. "Greetings. My name is Nigel Uno, but you may call me Numbuh 1, and that's Numbuh with a B-U-H at the end. I just came here to inspect the area, and maybe ask a question or two."

Relieved that they weren't in any sort of apparent danger, Double D responded, "Well, before you do that, _Numbuh_ 1 (_it pained him to purposefully mispronounce a word_), the least that we can do is introduce ourselves properly as well. Salutations, I am Eddward, with two Ds, but you may call me Double D." He said this as he bowed welcomingly in a gentleman-like fashion.

Eddy was next, "I'm Eddy, nice to meet ya." He stuck out his hand, which Numbuh 1 shook.

Ed excitedly yelled out: "I'm Ed! Cool car!"

Finally, it was Jack's turn, "I am known as Samurai Jack. It is a pleasure to meet you." He then bowed in the traditional Japanese way.

Numbuh 1 bowed back in the same manner, but this had immediately piqued his curiosity. _What's a samurai doing in a western suburb?_ He thought, but then pushed it to the back of his mind as he went into his first question. "Well then, has anything overly strange happened around here?"

All of them laughed, much to Numbuh 1's confusion.

"Oh boy! Where should we begin?" laughed Eddy.

"Perhaps you should follow us to my house," said Double D, leading them all to his garage.

He opened it, from which a sour smell emanated, revealing a research lab that he had set up. But one thing stood out immediately to Numbuh 1. In the center of the lab was a table that held a dissected Xenomorph. Double D had been conducting research on them to find more efficient ways to – neutralize them.

"What is this? How did you guys manage to kill a Xenomorph?!" inquired Numbuh 1. "Where is the worm-hole?"

They then proceeded to tell him of everything that had been happening. Afterward, Jack told his story again to explain how he had gotten there, which pretty much had the same effect on Numbuh 1 as it did on the others.

After five minutes, when Numbuh 1 had finally snapped out of his amazement, he proceeded to examine the Xenomorph. Its head had been lopped clean-off. "Very impressive, um, Mister Jack?"

"Just 'Jack' will do, thank you. But, that wasn't me," he replied.

"I just can't believe that someone of your – ability – hadn't yet been recruited by the RND!" but then Numbuh 1 realized what he had said, "Wait, what?"

"What is this . . . RND?" asked Jack.

"Ah well, I'll explain that later. It's actually the reason that I'm here. But anyway, this wasn't you?" He continued examining the Xenomorph. It had been the first time that he was in close proximity to one that wasn't trying to eat him.

"Now _that_, my friend, was _my_ ultimate display of machismo!" said Eddy, smiling proudly with his arms crossed.

"Impossible! There's no way that this was you!" exclaimed Numbuh 1 in disbelief. _Even I didn't learn to make such a clean cut until after four and a half months of constant training, and that was with Numbuh 529 instructing me personally! These guys learned to do it in just one!_ He turned to look at Jack, who was preoccupied with looking out and up into the sky. _He's definitely way beyond the level of even a Grandmaster._

Suddenly, Kevin, Rolf, Nazz, Sarah, and Jimmy showed up, and stood outside of the garage, but before they could even ask about Numbuh 1, they all (minus Rolf) looked away and cried out in disgust of the dead Xenomorph, which Eddy thought was just hilarious – especially when Jimmy almost fainted.

"Rolf thinks that those Xeno-doohickeys would make a fine stew!" said Rolf, grossing everyone, including the Eds, out even more.

"Oh come on, people! I'm just studying it to find its weak points!" assured Double D, "we can't just go for their heads all of the time! These things have claws and spiked tails that we have to look out for as well!"

"We just came to see what was up with _Cue-Ball_ here!" yelled Sarah with her inhumanly huge mouth, "Seeing as how he broke my bedroom window with his stupid car's stupid lasers!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa . . . _Cue-Ball_?!" shouted Numbuh 1 in anger.

"Sarah, before you allow your temper to overcome you, please know that –" Double D paused to look at Ed, who was sweating like crazy out of fear, and after a brief internal conflict, decided to take the blame, "I was responsible for breaking your window."

Sarah immediately calmed down and smiled sweetly at him, "Oh, okay! I just know that you can fix it for me . . . right, Double D?" she said this in her "sweet and cute" voice as she batted her eyelashes (she had a bit of a crush on him).

Double D immediately went red and turned around as he responded, "uh . . . sure, Sarah."

Jimmy almost exploded with fury, but before he could say anything, a wooden object flew across the garage and struck Eddy square in the face, causing him to yell out in pain and anger.

"Oh no, Eddy, they're back!" yelled Double D.

Everyone looked out to see someone approaching.

"No one defeats the terrible two-some of _The_ G_ourd_ and _Timber, the Dark Shard_three times and gets away with it, Eddy!" yelled a familiar voice from outside.

"Damn it, Johnny!" he shouted, stepping on and over what was obviously Plank in a black mask.

"Who is this _Johnny_? For the last time, I'm the villainous Gourd!"

"More like the villainous _Pest_!" Eddy continued walking toward him.

Johnny wore the costume of his annoyingly evil alter-ego who had defected from being the "superhero" called _Captain Melonhead_. He wore a green shirt that was torn along the bottom and tied around with a belt, white pants, a dark green cape, two different gloves on each hand, and his most distinguishing feature, a huge hollowed-out gourd-plant that he wore on his equally large head as a mask.

"Vengeance is mine!" yelled Johnny – err uh, _the Gourd_ – as he launched himself at Eddy, who simply jumped back to dodge him. _The Gourd_ tried once more to savagely attack him, but Eddy lifted his foot out in front of him, as if to throw a kick, but just let his foe's face slam into it, breaking the mask and sending him to the ground. Eddy then turned and went back into the garage to pick up _Timber, the Dark Shard_.

"This is for everything that you have ever done to all of us over the past years, you stupid, creepy, rotten hunk of wood!" Eddy yelled as he threw Plank into the air, and round-housed him into a bunch of pieces as he came down.

Everybody was shocked by this – even Eddy.

"Uh-oh, I went a little overboard, huh?" he admitted, suddenly regretting it.

Johnny was momentarily speechless from the shock. He dropped to his knees and began crying tears of rage, "Eddy! You murderer!" But then, something within his mind released itself, and he suddenly snapped out of his dementia. His tears of rage unexpectedly turned into those of joy. "Thank you, Eddy!" he cried even more now, "No longer will I be controlled by that monster! I could never bring myself to do it! He wouldn't let me!"

This shocked everybody even more.

"Uh . . . you're welcome?" answered Eddy, very confused as to what just happened, along with everyone else.

Johnny got up off the ground and skipped away, feeling as if a great weight had been lifted from him.

"Um . . . okay?" said Numbuh 1, who was as lost as Jack.

"It's a long and disturbing story," said Double D.

That was enough for them, both.

"Alright, well all distractions aside, back to the issue at hand," said Numbuh 1 who turned to look at everybody, "Hello everyone, may I have your attention, please!"

They all turned to look at him, after which, he introduced himself to those that he hadn't yet, and then proceeded to explain everything to them, starting from his days as an operative for the Kids Next Door of Earth, then to his time in the Rebels Next Dimension, eventually telling them about the Fallen Hand's evil intentions, and finally, the events that brought him to their world, including the deaths of those that he had valiantly served with, as well as of him and his mentor being framed for the assassination of Numbuh 1-Trillion.

"Man . . ." said Kevin in astonishment.

"Aw! That's so sad, dude!" said Nazz, who began tearing up.

"How awful!" exclaimed Double D.

"Gravy!" said Ed, randomly.

"So you mean to say that the dorks aren't responsible for the worm-hole in the alley?" asked Kevin, pointing at them.

"That's right. As I said before, it was caused by the Quantum-Devourers passing through your dimension to the next."

"This is all so crazy," said Nazz. She turned toward the Eds. "We're so sorry, dudes!"

Everyone else hastily apologized as well.

"Eddy, do you hear that? We have our acceptance back!" shouted Double D.

Eddy remained looking serious, however, confusing everyone.

"I don't deserve it," he said, looking down sadly.

Everyone was puzzled even further by this.

Eddy looked up at Numbuh 1 and asked: "What did you expect to gain by telling us all of this?"

"I'm not going to beat around the bush, so I'll just come out and say it." He then pointed at Jack and the three Eds. "I want you four to join me."

"You can't be serious?!" everyone yelled.

"I am very serious. You'll make fine first-additions to my crew."

"Perfect! I'll do it!" said Eddy.

This time, everyone yelled in unison: "What?! Why?!"

"Ever since we were all little, I've done nothing but scam and do horrible things out of selfishness, even to those that I considered my friends," he looked at Double D and Ed as he said that last part, "and when the incident happened with my Big Bro, sure it made you all understand why I was like that for all of those years, but, it really did nothing to make up for them."

Double D and Ed both looked down in sadness as well, for they felt that exact same way from helping Eddy throughout all those years of scamming everybody.

"When we began training with Jack, we promised to get strong enough to protect all of you. Now that we are, we can more than make up for everything by helping Numbuh 1." He looked more serious than ever as he said it.

"I shall go as well!" yelled Double D.

"Me four!" yelled Ed, raising his one of his fists up into the air.

They turned to look at Jack.

"I'm sorry." he said, "Though your quest is noble and righteous, I have my own quest to complete."

"Jack, if Warmaster Surt is victorious, then there will be no past to go back to," revealed Numbuh 1.

"What?!" he said in disbelief, "That cannot be!"

"I'm sorry, but it can. The past has its own set of parallel dimensions, and if they become collapsed, then they will no longer exist separately, but rather in one quantum reality, along with everything else. It would essentially become a twisted, chaotic wasteland of overlapping time and space that no one would be able to escape from unless they died. In other words, if Surt succeeds, then say goodbye to not only the past, but yours and everybody else's dimensions as well." Numbuh 1 adjusted his sunglasses, as they began to irritate the bridge of his nose, "By helping me, you will also be continuing your own quest."

"How do I know that what you have spoken is true?" said Jack.

"How do I know that you aren't an agent of Warmaster Surt?" replied Numbuh 1.

Jack smiled at this. "It seems that we will just have to trust each other, then."

Numbuh 1 smiled back, "You already have my trust. I just need yours."

Jack then bowed to him with closed eyes, signifying his trust in the traditional manner.

Satisfied, Numbuh 1 turned and began heading back to his vehicle. "Excellent, we leave in a week!"

* * *

(Six days later)

"This is so cool!" yelled Kevin as Numbuh 1 accelerated. "You totally have to let me drive this monster! And what does it run on? I don't smell any exhaust!"

"I'd rather not, I mean, I only have four of them," laughed Numbuh 1. "Oh, and they run off of solar-power. Yeah, they have a beast of a battery."

"I'll trade you a garage's worth of jaw-breakers for one!" yelled Kevin, hopefully.

Numbuh 1 just smiled and shook his head as they sped down the road, back to D-Ship 123.

He had Jack in the front passenger seat. Eddy, Double D, Kevin, and Rolf were all squeezed into the back-row, which was meant only for three people, and Ed sat in the turret-operator seat, having promised Double D that he wouldn't fire at anything. Double D had set up a long distance warning system, just in case more aliens came through the portal while they were gone.

They were on their way to get proper weapons and equipment, especially for Kevin and Rolf, who had decided to stay and protect the cul-de-sac in the Eds' absence. They had all (including Jack) been training in marksmanship intensely, eight hours everyday for the past six days, with low-powered practice-rifles that Numbuh 1 had brought from the ship. He had also taught them how to care for their rifles and how to recharge them when they ran out of juice. During this time, there was another Xenomorph attack, but it was quickly handled.

They soon slowed to a stop on the side of the road. Everyone was confused, until Numbuh 1 hit a button on his ship-remote, deactivating its cloaking system, which effectively surprised them all.

Once inside, he proceeded to take them on a tour of the ship, which they all enjoyed every second of. But everybody's favorite part (especially Kevin's) was the cargo bay, which was where Numbuh 1 showed them the unfinished Mech. They all headed back into the second level's hallway where he then led them into the supplies and equipment store-room to get fitted for a set of steel-plated ballistic-armor.

Jack found a white set – Eddy, a black set – Double D, a red set – Ed, a dark-green set – Kevin, a bright-green set – and Rolf, a yellow set. After that, they were each given a pair of night-vision goggles, thermo-goggles, one communicator, and finally, a large, dark-green military-style backpack that they were instructed to fill with whatever they were going to bring with them.

They then moved on to the weapons armory, where they were each issued an LZR-32 Solar-Rifle, except for Double D who preferred two LZR-16 Solar-Pistols, and then were given a choice of what close quarters weapon to have. All of them were new models for the RND's signature, black-bladed, close-quarters weapons that Numbuh 5120 had been inspired to design after watching a bunch of martial arts movies from Numbuh 1's collection. Jack obviously didn't need one as he already had his Holy-Katana (which was technically an O-Katana due to its 36-inch length), as well as Eddy, who had been given the Time-Guardian's all-white O-Katana of the same length, though he did finally find a suitable sheath for it. But the others that needed blades immediately spread out to inspect the many different machetes and swords, each designed to never corrode. Double D chose a one-handed Roman Gladius Shortsword with a 20-inch blade (he decided that he was going to avoid close-quarters for the most-part), Ed chose a two-handed European Greatsword with a 40-inch blade, Kevin eventually settled on a one-handed Viking Broad-sword with a 30-inch blade, while Rolf's fancy was piqued by a two-handed German Grosse Messer with a 34-inch blade. Numbuh 1 himself traded in his standard-issue 18-inch machete, for a Chinese Dadao War-sword with a 28-inch blade.

Once they were all properly equipped and armed, they headed out to the Doom-Buggy and went back to the cul-de-sac. Thankfully nothing had set off the alarm.

Upon arrival, by which it was already late in the evening, they all turned went to their respective houses, except Numbuh 1, who went back to the ship, and rested in preparation of the following day, after which their lives would never be the same.

* * *

They all awoke after a restless night. Those who were to leave began packing, and then showered, nervous in anticipation for their journey of redemption. Jack packed his three spare robes that he kept expertly hidden within a small satchel underneath his current robe, as well as the armor and gear that he had received from Numbuh 1. All three of the Eds also packed three sets of spare clothes and their issued armor and gear, but they also included a few other things: Eddy included two of his favorite – research – magazines, as well as large bottles of both shampoo, body wash, and his favorite cologne. Double D included many spare black ski-hats, his best book on quantum physics, a few notebooks and pencils, Eddy's camera that he had agreed to fix (its flash was way too powerful), complete with spare film, several hygiene products, and, of course, his labeler. Ed included many of his favorite comic-books, his five favorite sponges from the collection that he kept hidden within one of his walls, and the little horned fire-breathing monster figure.

After writing notes for their parents, explaining the reasons for their hopefully temporary absences, they then slung and belted-on their respective weapons, put on their packs, and walked out to the sight of a darkened, grey sky.

They greeted Jack and Numbuh 1, who awaited them in the cul-de-sac's center-circle, along with everyone else.

Almost everybody was in a somber mood, and even the sky seemed to cry for them, for it was lightly raining. The only ones who showed little to no emotion were Jack and Numbuh 1.

Sarah and Jimmy were the first to step forward. Jimmy proceeded to shake all of their hands and thanked them. Next, Sarah went up to Jack, Numbuh 1, and Eddy to shake their hands as well, remaining silent, and then moved on to her brother, whom she hugged tearfully and said "Come back safe." Finally, she went up to Double D and hugged him as well, but afterwards, smooched him on the mouth, surprising everybody and enraging Jimmy, and then went back with the others, crying.

Double D almost fainted.

Rolf was second, and handed each of them a bag of strangely smelling meat, "For the journey, Great-Samurai, Bald-One, and Ed-boys, from the son of a shepherd." He then puffed-up his chest, made the "L" sign of his Urban Rangers troop on his forehead and said, "Strike fast, strike last," and then stepped back.

Nazz was next. She went up to each of them and hugged and kissed them all on their cheeks once more and said, "thank you, all of you, for being so brave and protecting us. Please be safe." She too retreated with tears in her eyes.

Kevin was the last one to step forward, and spoke, "Well, uh, I guess this is goodbye, for now," he looked down to the ground, unsure of what to say, "I just wanted to say that, well uh, you . . . dorks . . . better come back in one piece, you hear!" He quickly looked away, not sure of how to feel.

"Thanks everybody," said Eddy. "We won't let you down."

Jack, Double D, and Ed said goodbye as well and followed Numbuh 1 to the Buggy.

They were about to get in when suddenly, an unfamiliar red car sped onto and stopped at the mouth of the center circle, blocking their way out. Then, much to everyone's horror, four very familiar figures emerged from it and walked over to them.

"Where do you think you're going, _Pipsqueak_?" It was Eddy's big brother, and tagging along with him were the Kanker-Sisters.

Eddy simply remained silent and focused.

"You didn't think that I was just going to let all of you off the hook for what you did to me back in Mondo-A-Go-Go, did ya?" he said in his gruff voice. "You're in for one hell of a session of _Uncle_, Pipsqueak!" he then went over to Eddy and raised his fist, but before he could swing just once, he had already been struck five times in the stomach, effectively bringing him down to his knees. "Whoa, there, Pipsqueak!" he tried to laugh off the pain, "did your girlfriend, here, whip ya into shape, or something?"

This time it was Double D's turn, "Girlfriend?! Again?! Can't you tell that I'm a boy, you primitively sadistic imbecile!" He launched into a flying kick that knocked him senseless, but still didn't bring him down.

"Hey!" yelled Lee Kanker, "what are ya doin' to my man?!"

"What?!" asked Eddy, in confusion.

"It seems to me that Lee Kanker has begun a romantic relationship with your brother, Eddy. Probably when we left them back at the amusement park," said Double D.

"Really?! That's awesome! Now she'll leave me alone! I don't even like red-heads!" Eddy laughed to himself as he turned back to his brother, "Now, Big Bro, let's play _Uncle_!" bringing his fists into position, he then unleashed a barrage of seemingly never-ending Wing Chun Gatling-strikes, "Say _Uncle_ if you can, Big Bro!" The barrage continued until his brother lost consciousness and simply fell flat on his back, with his face swollen to the point where it was almost unrecognizable. Eddy stood over his brother, raised his left fist and shouted, "That was for everything that you put me through, and for what you turned me into!"

"Let's get out of here, girls!" yelled May Kanker as she and her sisters picked up Eddy's brother and took off in his car, presumably back to their trailer park.

All of the others cheered intensely at their display of fearlessness and determination.

Eddy turned and raised his fist once more, "Did you all see that?! Well, I promise you all, this: that was nothing compared to what we'll do to that _Warmaster Surt_-guy!"

Once more, they all cheered, even more intensely than before as the three Eds got onto the buggy's back-row, and then, speeding off into the horizon, they were gone.

* * *

The fresh and moist afternoon air cooled them all as they sped down the road.

Numbuh 1 drove, Jack was in the front passenger seat, Eddy and Double D were in the back-row, and Ed, like always, was in the turret-seat, spinning around while he pretended to shoot stuff on the sides of the road.

"You've impressed me, Eddy," said Numbuh 1, breaking the silence.

"What? Oh, you mean back there with my Big Bro? It was nothing, I just beat him because of Jack's training."

"Did you really not notice?" asked Numbuh 1 puzzled.

Eddy remained silent, thinking back to the skirmish.

"You beat your vastly, physically stronger older brother without even moving an inch from where you stood!" exclaimed Numbuh 1.

"Oh, I guess I did, didn't I!" laughed Eddy, feeling better now.

"You stood your ground, just like a true warrior!" assured Numbuh 1. He then turned to Jack, "You taught them well, you know that?"

Jack just looked at him, then smiled and nodded in thanks, "When they resolved to protect their loved ones, I saw within them, my younger self. I simply did for them what was done for me."

Numbuh 1 nodded in understanding. He soon slowed down as he neared the area where his invisible ship was and, after deactivating its cloak and opening its ramp, proceeded to drive up and then parked onto one of its vehicle-holding spots, next to the other buggies.

They all headed up into the main command bridge, where Numbuh 1 quickly got into the pilot's seat and initiated the ship's start-up sequence. He then turned on the Rift-Opener and saw that it was now fully charged. "Alright everyone! Prepare for launch in three minutes!"

Everyone sat on either side of him, buckling-in to their seats and holding onto their packs as the ship began shaking.

After a while, Numbuh 1 flipped another switch and then, quoting one of his old friends, he yelled, "Hold onto your underwear!" pushing the thrusters forward and then twisting them back to gain altitude.

The others all shouted in both fear and excitement from flying up so fast. Things hardly felt better when the ship accelerated even more.

Numbuh 1 entered his dimension and planet ID once more into the Rift-Opener and flew onward until the purple and yellow portal finally opened. "First stop: my dimension!"

* * *

****(Cue ending theme: Maon Kurosaki - "Return to Destiny" - 00:00 to 01:22)

**To Be Continued. . .**

**Next Episode: A Planet Ravaged! Kids Next Door, No More!**


	4. Kids Next Door, No More!

(I do not own any of these properties or characters! All rights go to their respective owners and affiliates!)

* * *

Note from the author: Holy crap! Sorry about that wait, everyone. I guess, well,_ life_ happened, and I couldn't work on this for a while (I was momentarily unemployed and needed to find a job!) –but the good news is that things have finally stabilized (found another one, _finally_) and I can now work on this regularly. I have so many ideas that I've been dying to see included, so expect new episodes about every one to two weeks or so. I don't plan on stopping anytime soon –or ever (until the end of this humongous epic, that is, which won't be for a long time) as I have multiple seasons planned out, including between-season "movie" specials!

Now, enjoy my latest work. Reviews are very welcome. A million thanks to you guys!

* * *

Previously on Codename: Warriors Next Dimension: After waking up from his first night of real sleep in a long time, Numbuh 1 decided to explore Dimensional-Ship 123 (the transport/war vessel that originally belonged to the late Numbuh 5120, and thus, was given to him by Numbuh 529 later). After uncovering a few surprises, he eventually discovered its biggest secret behind a vault-door and found a computer with a very disturbing but important message left behind by Numbuh 5120. The message described the shocking revelations that Numbuh 5120 discovered while working as an undercover spy within The Fallen Hand that detailed not only how they had been discovering new planets to conquer, but also the fact that there was at least one spy, high-up within the RND's ranks, that had been supplying this information to them. Thus, in preparation for the RND's downfall, Numbuh 5120 included a message of hope in the form of another file that contained a list of worlds that he had copied and then deleted from the information networks of both the Fallen Hand as well as the RND, due to the spy. These worlds were said to contain powerful and skilled warriors and/or brilliant, scientific minds that were potentially beneficial to stopping Warmaster Surt's completely mad campaign of collapsing the Multi-Verse! But there was one problem: the file was scrambled and thus, incomprehensible.

Numbuh 1 then headed out to the Peach Creek cul-de-sac, where he met Samurai Jack, the three Eds, and the other residents. He then found out that Ed, Double D, Eddy, Kevin, and Rolf had all been training with Jack for the last two months, all to be able to protect their homes and loved ones. Soon though, their meeting was interrupted by Johnny and Plank, who were out for vengeance against the Eds. They were dressed up as the "super-villains" known as _The Gourd_ and _Timber the Dark Shard_, respectively. A short squabble then ensued between Eddy and Johnny, resulting in his effortless defeat, andPlank's literal demise when Eddy added insult to injury by kicking him into pieces. But this had an unexpected effect on Johnny – who initially cried tears of rage – for they eventually turned into those of happiness and relief when Johnny claimed that Plank had been using mind-control, and as a result, his "death" finally made him lose his grasp on Johnny's fragile, confused psyche. Numbuh 1 then explained his story and predicament, at which Jack and the three Eds volunteered to help him, though Jack initially needed some rather blunt persuading in the form of a dreadful truth: If Warmaster Surt was to be victorious, then there would be no past to go back to.

Six days later, after having been constantly trained in marksmanship by Numbuh 1, they then went to the ship to get fitted for armor, as well as to get equipment and weapons, especially for Kevin and Rolf, who had both decided to stay in the cul-de-sac to protect it from any future attacks while the others were gone. The next day, Jack and the three Eds then packed and headed out to say their goodbyes, after which, they were momentarily withheld by Eddy's Big Brother and the Kanker Sisters who had tagged along with him. Eddy and Double D easily beat him in a quick fight, which scared the Kankers into retreating back to the Park 'n Flush trailer park. After giving their friends one last message of hope and encouragement, they then went to the ship and departed for Numbuh 1's home-world!

* * *

(Cue opening theme: Dragonforce - "Heroes of Our Time" - 00:00 to 02:12)

**Codename: Warriors Next Dimension**

**Season 1: Quantum Genesis – Episode 4: A Planet Ravaged! Kids Next Door, No More!**

(D-Ship 123)

The ship slowly orbited Earth while its passengers slowly awakened. Everybody had gone to sleep upon arrival to Numbuh 1's dimension, which kind of annoyed him for he wanted to get down there as soon as possible, but he eventually settled for going in the morning. After their respective morning routines, they all convened in the command bridge.

Numbuh 1, already there, was hunched over as he looked out at his planet.

Something was wrong.

"Salutations and a good morning to you, Numbuh 1!" said Double D, who was the first to walk in. He was soon followed by the others, whom all went and sat in their preferred chairs out on the personnel level.

"I'm afraid that it's not as good a morning as you may think, Double D," responded Numbuh 1 somberly as he turned back to look out again, "come here and tell me if you notice anything strange about my Earth."

Double D walked over to where he stood and looked out to the planet. It was not only cloudier than it should be, but it was almost completely covered! Then he noticed something else.

"That's . . . not normal. And what in the world are those?" he asked, pointing to the other abnormalities.

The others came over and looked out as well, gasping at what they saw.

"Those worry me more than the clouds. They definitely weren't and shouldn't be there," said Numbuh 1 with a look of dread.

Amongst the suffocating clouds were various, though sparsely laid-out, black towers that were clearly visible, even from their position in space. The clouds even seemed to create vortexes around the tops of them.

Numbuh 1 quickly activated one of the ship's alternate viewing modes, which allowed them to look through the clouds, until he found his old neighborhood, and eventually pinpointed his former KND treehouse.

Once it was located, he began to make a descent.

"We're landing?!" yelled Eddy, with a fearful look.

Ed just laughed and raised his hands into the air, yelling: "Wee!"

"How can you be sure that it's safe?!" asked Double D, about to panic.

"I have no idea if it is, but I need to see what is happening to my planet!" said Numbuh 1, now with a look of nervous determination. He was truly fearful of what he might discover.

The ship continued its descent, falling through the clouds, but was soon violently shaken by something.

"What was that?!" said Jack, regaining his footing while looking around for any danger with his hand on the handle of his sword.

"Everybody strap in! We're being shot at!" warned Numbuh 1, who took hold of the steering controls. "I'm going to have to do some evasive maneuvers!"

Everybody got into their seats and rapidly put on their safety-belts.

Another volley of red missiles came their way, but thankfully, Numbuh 1 remembered a maneuver that he had seen both Numbuhs 2 and 2476 do many times before. He simply dropped into a full-on 90° nosedive, causing the missiles to fly past them on either side.

Another bunch of missiles were launched from somewhere along the ground, but these were more widespread, which made them more difficult to evade.

"Double D, in front of you, there is a dark-green lever – Push it forward!" commanded Numbuh 1.

After it was done, the ship vibrated for a moment, and was soon surrounded by a strange, transparent-green energy.

"That's the shield. It'll hold against nearly any amount of damage, but we won't be able to counter-attack while it's up." Said Numbuh 1, finally relaxing in the pilot's chair. "I want to know who the hell was shooting at us!"

The ship continued down until the top of the massive tree came into view, by which their attackers ceased fire. After they landed in front of the treehouse, they saw a small unit of the KND's makeshift mechs that were made with improvised materials, surround the ship with their missile launchers trained on them.

Numbuh 1 quickly activated the ship's external PA system and announced, "This is Numbuh 1, formerly of the Kids Next Door! I order you to stand down immediately!"

The mechs didn't respond and just stayed as they were.

Numbuh 1 quickly ran out of the room, yelling, "Double D, pull the lever back!"

Once the shield was down, Numbuh 1 stepped out and off of the ship, standing with his hands raised. He began shivering violently, noticing that the sky was dark-grey, the air was extremely cold, and it was snowing lightly.

"All operatives, stand down!" boomed a mature, though still-familiar female voice from the treehouse's PA speakers.

The makeshift mechs backed away and retreated by jumping up into the hangar located on the massive treehouse. Then, a figure emerged from Numbuh 1's home, from which the tree protruded upwards. He noticed that his house's front-door and windows were covered in metal, along with some other parts. Come to think of it, he noticed that the other houses were like that as well. He planned to ask why, later.

As soon as he recognized who it was, she immediately ran over and locked him into a welcoming embrace.

"Welcome home, Nigel, it's so good to see that you're okay," she whispered.

"It's good to see that you're okay too, Numbuh 5. How are the others?" he asked in a worried tone. He had noticed that she still wore her trademark red hat and golden hoop-earrings, but he also noticed that she had grown up a lot (as in, she had "filled out" rather nicely) but he quickly averted his wandering eyes.

"They're fine, but everything else isn't," she replied, breaking the embrace.

He was about to ask her what she meant, when suddenly his front door opened again and three more figures came rushing out.

"Numbuh 1! Numbuh 1! Is that really you?!" screamed a girl that he barely recognized as Numbuh 3, (she'd grown up quite nicely as well) who then jumped onto him and squealed happily, "Yay! You're back! Yay, yay, yay!"

"Glad to be back, Numbuh 3," said a blushing Numbuh 1, his voice muffled through her green sweater due to being suffocated by her . . . _ample bosom_.

"Numbuh 1, you're back?! I thought you were supposed to be with the Galactic Kids Next Door for life!" said a surprised Numbuh 4, who had gotten taller, but was still shorter than everyone else. Noticing the scene, he grew mildly angry, "and what do you think you're doing, mate?!"

Numbuh 3 finally let go, letting him breathe as he responded, "Sorry, well, about my return, I'll explain inside."

He turned towards Numbuh 2 – his best friend since Kindergarten – and held out his hand, "Good to see you, buddy."

Numbuh 2, with tears of joy, shook his hand, "I thought that we wouldn't see you again, Numbuh 1, especially after what happened while you were gone."

Numbuh 1 simply nodded and responded, "Well I'm here now. No need to worry, old friend," he turned around and waved to the ship, after which Jack and the Eds exited and walked over to them.

"Everyone, I would like for you all to meet Samurai Jack, Ed, Double D, and Eddy. They will be joining us." He then turned to Jack and the Eds and introduced the others in turn, after which, they all shook hands.

"Cool giant treehouse!" yelled Ed excitedly.

"I've gotta agree with Lumpy, there. That's a heck of a treehouse you got there!" said Eddy in admiration.

"It's absolutely gigantic! What is it? I can't really tell if it's an ancient Sequoia or just an extraordinarily large Oak! And not to mention the various facilities that it's holding within its branches! I've never, in all my days, seen anything like it!" said Double D, in complete bewilderment and fascination.

"Thank you. Well then, why don't we all head inside? In case you haven't noticed, it's freezing out here," responded Numbuh 5, waving them to follow her.

Once inside of his house, Numbuh 1 noticed that it was full of people, both those that he recognized from his neighborhood, as well as some that he didn't know at all. But there was definitely something wrong. They all looked devastated, for many cried and huddled together for warmth. Soon though, he came across his parents, at which he told the others to go on ahead. They both ran over and embraced him.

"Nigel! My dear boy, we feared that you would never come back!" said his mother in her thick British-accent, tearfully, "thank Heaven, you've returned!"

"Nigel, _Ol' Bean_, we're ever so glad that you're safe! We were worried-sick that your school's campus had been attacked by all of those wicked creatures as well!" said his father in an even thicker British-accent.

_Campus?_ _Creatures?_ Thought Numbuh 1, _I guess they must have thought that I was in some sort of fancy school after they were decommissioned again. And what did he mean by "wicked creatures"?_

He then broke the embrace and asked, "Mom, Dad, have you both been safe here? Were either of you injured at all while I was gone?"

"Of course not!" said his mother, with a smile, "We've been in good hands, thanks to your brave friends – especially sweet Abigail – such a strong girl!"

"Indeed! Little Abby made an effort to save whomever she could, before those monsters went on a murderous rampage all over the world!" said his father.

Numbuh 1 was once again intrigued by his father's mention of "monsters", but decided that Numbuh 5 would explain everything to him. He nodded and embraced his parents once more, "I'm happy that you're both okay. We'll catch up, later. Right now, though, I'm going to talk to the others to think on what we can do about these _monsters_," With that, he went toward the back of the house, where the elevator was, and finally headed up into the command/briefing room, where the others awaited.

It was a round and open room that had large windows on both sides, as well as long control panels for the treehouse's defense systems. At the far end was a small stage-like platform and a crudely-made, wooden podium, and in the middle of the room was a round, shallow pit that had a long, red couch built-in along its entire circumference, and in the center of that, was a high-tech computer that displayed important mission information using a holographic user-interface. It was where they were briefed on their missions, long before.

Taking a seat in the pit (which felt weird to him, for he was always up on the platform, standing behind the podium as he briefed everybody on whatever mission they had) Numbuh 1 smiled and said to his former team, "thank you all, for taking care of my parents."

Numbuh 5 shrugged, "No problem. You would have done the same for our folks if any of us had been gone."

The others agreed as well.

"Also, Numbuh 1, I noticed that you aren't wearing your glasses. Are you wearing contacts?"

"Oh, well I had my eyesight improved during my absence. I still rock the shades, though!" he laughed.

With that out of the way, they all began relating everything that had happened. Numbuh 1 went first and told the story of his days within the RND, of his new mentor, Numbuh 529, and of Numbuh 860 – about whom, he got a lot of playful comments from the guys, as well as various "woos" from the girls – then, of his being framed for Numbuh 1-Trillion's murder, and finally, of his discovering Jack and the Eds.

Afterward, Jack chronicled his history which, once again, everyone found completely fascinating, followed by the Eds, who told them of their lives up to that point (at which, they got many comments of encouragement from the others).

"Well then, I suppose that you were wondering why there are so many people holed up in your house, right?" said Numbuh 5, drinking some hot cocoa.

Numbuh 2 stood up and butted in, "We were invaded by aliens!"

Numbuh 1 stood up as well, in shock, "What?!"

"Pipe down, Hoagie-Baby, I was getting to that!" Numbuh 5 scolded Numbuh 2.

"Oh, right! Sorry, Babe," said Numbuh 2, who sat back down.

_Hoagie-Baby? Babe? Since when has this been going on?_ thought Numbuh 1 with a confused look on his face – which Numbuh 5 noticed.

"Just sit back down and relax, Numbuh 1, I'll explain everything," she said.

She went on to reveal that during the first year of his absence, she and Numbuh 2, and likewise, Numbuhs 3 and 4, began a romantic relationship. She also became the new Supreme Commander of the Kids Next Door. Then after a long period of time, a giant, permanent worm-hole appeared over Russia, through which a large fleet of strange vessels came through, carrying an invasion force that began destroying everything in its wake. Entire countries along with their resistance forces, both military and civilian, including most of the KND, were nearly decimated.

Numbuh 1 was particularly devastated by her last statement.

She then handed the explanation over to Numbuh 2, who revealed that he knew what the invasion force was.

"They're known as the Chimera," he said.

"Those are the Chimera?!" shouted Numbuh 1 in disbelief.

Ed suddenly yelled out, "Ooh, ooh! I know what they are! They're from Resistance, right?!"

"Um, yes. But how did you both know them?" said Numbuh 2.

"Videogames!" laughed Ed.

"Videogames?" asked Numbuh 1, perplexed.

Numbuh 2 was bewildered as well, "But you're from another dimension! How? . . ." putting it aside for now, he resumed explaining to Jack, Eddy, and Double D, "Well anyways, yeah, they're from a PlayStation 3 videogame series called Resistance. They can only survive in extremely cold environments due to their rapidly high metabolism – hence the springtime-winter out there," he said, pointing out of the window. "They're freezing the Earth with those damn towers that they've excavated all over the world! But what I'd like to know is how your friend, there, knows about a videogame series from our dimension!"

Double D thought about it and theorized, "It could be possible that every version of Earth has the same seemingly-fictional entertainment . . . though maybe it's because it really isn't all that fictitious."

Numbuh 2 thought hard for a moment, "Eh, works for me. But Numbuh 1, how did _you_ know about them as well? You never played those games!"

"I've heard of the Chimera during my days in the RND, but I've never encountered them. I heard that they're ruthless and bloodthirsty. Not only that, but they're also working with The Fallen Hand. I've never seen or even heard of those towers, though," said Numbuh 1. He suddenly realized what Numbuh 2 had said, "Numbuh 2, what did you mean by they were _excavated_?!"

"Well . . . the Chimera had actually colonized Earth about 60 million years ago, during which, they had a conflict with another unknown, intelligent species. They ended up having to abandon Earth after ruining it during the war – but now they're back to reclaim it! Those towers are a remnant technology from that time. They're also giving Earth a major face-lift using these massive, satellite-like terraformers that blast down a large, continuous stream of powerful radiation," he had turned on the holographic computer, and brought up a 3D model of a terraformer. It appeared to be a massive, flying structure that had a large cannon aimed at the ground.

Afterward, he brought up models of the various breeds of Chimera. "These are the most common; they're called Hybrids, because they're made by converting humans," the model showed a pale, shirtless, humanoid figure whose head and face appeared not only reptilian due to its medium-length snout and rows of sharp teeth that still jutted from its mouth even when it was closed, but it was insect-like as well, due to having about four eyes (Numbuh 2 explained that they usually had two to six yellow eyes, depending on their breed). The horrible figure also had a strange device on its back, connected to its spine, which had four metal cylinders protruding outwards that glowed yellow. This device was a cooling unit, which all Chimera used to stop themselves from spontaneously combusting. He then went on to show them models of some of the other common Chimeran breeds like Grims, Chameleons, Longlegs, Steelheads, Ravagers, and Titans.

"Such foul beasts must truly be evil to do something like this!" said Jack, "We will help you. Tell us what we must do."

The Eds suddenly grew alarmed, and Double D quickly spoke up.

"Now, now, gentlemen, let's not be too hasty here. My fellows and I don't think that we're ready to face such monstrosities!"

"Nonsense, Double D! With mine and Jack's training, you're all more than prepared!" said Numbuh 1, confidently. "I have the utmost faith that you guys can handle it."

Eddy looked down, thinking on the previous day. He could still barely believe that he had been capable of that, but he finally agreed with Numbuh 1, as did the other Eds, though they were still scared.

"Well, there's only one way to win against the Chimera, and that's to knock out their main freezing tower," said Numbuh 2.

"Which is where?" asked Numbuh 1.

"Well, in the last game, Resistance 3, it was in New York City. But surprisingly, in our dimension, it's somewhere in the Mojave Desert, or so we've heard from surviving Nevada and Arizona KND members before we lost contact with them."

"Can't we just use Moonbase's satellite imaging to pin-point its location?"

"Ah, well, about that . . . you see . . . we no longer have access to Moonbase. The reason for that is pretty much also the cause of our downfall."

Numbuh 1 grew perplexed, "Numbuh 2 . . . why can't we go to Moonbase?"

Numbuh 2 stayed quiet, with a sad look on his face.

Numbuh 1 looked around at the others, who all also had that same saddened expression.

"Guys?" he asked, worriedly.

Numbuh 5 finally stood up and spoke: "Numbuh 1 . . . _Father_ and _The Delightful Adolescents from down the Lane_, as they now call themselves, led all of the other villains on a massive attack on Moonbase, similar to when they attacked us during the _Grandfather Crisis._ They did it when most of our forces were preoccupied with the initial Chimeran invasion. After taking it over, they either banished or imprisoned all of its residing operatives, including Numbuhs 362 and 86, and then shot down ship after ship of KND reinforcements, causing the remaining few of us to retreat and hold out on Earth against the Chimera. We don't have the man-power to take up an offensive against either enemy. All that we have been able to do are to hide, scavenge, and fight back whenever we have to. Thankfully, the Chimera seem to pretty much ignore the treehouse. I guess they can't tell that it's pretty out of the ordinary."

Numbuh 1, truly shocked, sat back down, exhaling the breath that he had been holding throughout her revelation. He didn't think that things were this bad. "Which other operatives survived?"

"Globally? There are only one-hundred and forty-three. Of our immediate region? None else but us. But we do have Chad and my sister, Cree. Sadly, Maurice went missing about five months ago. We've led many search attempts for him, but we've obviously had no success."

"Chad and Cree?!" asked Numbuh 1, in disbelief. "They didn't go with Father?"

"No, they didn't. Cree chose to stay to protect Mom and Pop, while Chad revealed to the villains that he was a Teens Next Door operative the whole time, and chose to stay to help us out, even after his parents, Mega-Mom and Destructo-Dad, went with Father. They've been great help. Unfortunately, one of Chad's friends was captured by the Chimera, and they've been gone for a few days on a rescue operation. They should finally be back today, or so they said, a little before you arrived."

"Oh, alright, then," said Numbuh 1, feeling a bit foolish.

"So what will you do, Numbuh 1?" she asked. "We'd like to help you out on taking down the Fallen Hand, but we can't just abandon our world! Not when it's in this condition!"

He thought a moment more and finally decided. He stood up and cleared his throat.

"I've decided that we will simply have to take back Moonbase, and then, we're going to go after that tower!"

"How?!" everyone asked.

"Two words: Samurai Jack!"

"What?!"

"Think about it! Based on his stories, he's done some equally, if not more dangerous stuff than this! If we can take back Moonbase, then we can send Jack to take that tower down! – With us providing back-up, of course."

They turned to look at Jack, who sat cross-legged, seemingly meditating. He opened his eyes and nodded, "I have no objections."

"It's settled, then. All that's left is for us to formulate a plan when Chad and Cree return from their scouting mission," said Numbuh 5.

Numbuhs 3 and 4's cheeks grew red as they started chuckling to themselves.

"Now, what do you guys mean with _that_?" asked Numbuh 5, already pretty sure of what they meant.

"Oh, nothing . . ." said Numbuh 3, "just that they've been doing _everything_ together since after Maurice went missing."

Numbuh 5 was about to respond when the door at the back of the room opened, and in entered Chad and Cree, who were 19 and 21 years old respectively, carrying multiple packs of scavenged supplies.

Cree, as stated before, was Numbuh 5's older sister. During her days in the KND, she was Numbuh 11 and the former 2x4 Tech-Officer and leader of Sector-V. She somehow avoided being decommissioned and joined the Teen-Ninja Organization, becoming a major villain, as well as Numbuh 5's arch-rival.

Chad, on the other hand, was previously Numbuh 274, and was considered the greatest operative since the modern KND's legendary founder, Numbuh 0 (who turned out to be Numbuh 1's dad). Chad was also Numbuh 1's former mentor, as well as the Supreme Commander of the KND before Numbuh 362 replaced him. This happened when he "betrayed" the Kids Next Door by trying to hide the fact that he had turned 13 years-old and thus, was scheduled for decommissioning. He then went on to join the Teen-Ninja Organization, and became one of the KND's most feared villains, as well as Numbuh 1's arch-rival.

But unbeknownst to everyone, until the _Peace Treaty Incident_, was that he was actually one of the few, specially-selected, undercover teen operatives for the KND, collectively known as the Teens Next Door. But he still despised his former student for being selected to join what everyone believed to be the Galactic Kids Next Door, instead of him.

Numbuh 1 had never been able to defeat him in one-on-one combat until their last battle at the Peace Treaty Incident, which only enraged Chad even more.

"Whose big-ass ship is that out there?" asked Cree, before she and Chad noticed the newcomers.

"What the hell are _you_ doing here, _Nigel_?" asked Chad, in both anger and genuine surprise, "what, did you come back to rub it in my face?"

"No, Chad, not at all. I've come back to help," responded Numbuh 1.

"Help? We're doing just fine, thanks. So just go ahead and head back your_ prestigious _Galactic Kids Next Door and leave us to our own problems. I'm sure that you guys have much bigger and more important troubles."

"Chad!" scolded Numbuh 5.

"What? I can't express myself anymore? Don't forget that the Kids Next Door are done for! So I don't have to subject myself to you anymore, _Supreme Commander_."

Numbuh 1 stood up and walked over to him, "The Chimera _are_ one of our big troubles! But we have a plan, Chad, so don't lose hope!"

Chad gave him one more glare, and eventually walked past him and sat in the briefing pit. Cree followed and sat to the left of him.

Numbuh 5 had noticed something, "Where's Justin? I thought that you'd gone to rescue him!"

Chad looked down in anger and sadness, "those damn things! . . . They'd just barely started converting him into a Grim by the time we got there! What we found was hardly even human! I had to put a bullet through his head."

The news came as a genuine shock. Though Justin Cavallero had been a Teen-Ninja back in the day, he was Chad's best friend and eventually grew to become a trusted ally to everyone else within the past few years.

"Chad, _Baby_, calm down." whispered Cree, "You did what you had to do for him. For now, let's hear them out – the twerps might actually have a good plan."

He thought some more before nodding. "So what's the plan, then? And who the hell are these guys?" he said, looking around at everyone and relaxed back onto the red couch. Cree drew closer, prompting him to put his arm around her.

Eddy grew slightly angry and almost opened his mouth for a smartass comment, but Double D stopped him.

Numbuh 1 then proceeded to explain everything to him, eventually introducing Jack and the Eds, and finally proposed his plan.

Chad was dumbfounded. It was all so much to take in. Especially about the Galactic Kids Next Door actually being an interdimensional resistance group – that ended up being destroyed!

Numbuh 1 walked out to his old platform and took his familiar place behind the podium. A sense of nostalgia poured out over him, but it soon settled down as he spoke, "Finally, I want to say this: because both the KND and RND have fallen, we will arise from their figurative ashes and become a new organization. An organization that will not simply rebel against the Fallen Hand, but rather, one that will flat-out _fight_ back! An organization that will not simply strike its enemies' backs, but one that will stand their ground and confront them head-on!

We will be known as Kids Next Door, no more! Nor Teens Next Door! No, our name will be something truly fitting. It will be a name that will inspire fear in the already-blackened hearts of our enemies. We will be known, not as the _Rebels_ Next Dimension either, but as the _Warriors_ Next Dimension! So I ask you all, will you join me?!"

Everyone (minus Chad and Cree) stood up and shouted "Yes!" loudly in unison.

Numbuh 1 drew his Chinese Dadao and raised it into the air, "Will you take up blade and firearm for the sake of your existence, as well as for the existence of your loved ones?!"

"Yes!" they shouted again, this time raising their fists into the air as well.

"Then let's go take our Moonbase back!"

* * *

(Two days later, D-Ship 123, Midnight)

After Numbuhs 2-5, as well as Chad and Cree had all been properly equipped down in the storage level, they assembled into the command bridge where Jack and the Eds awaited. Upon arrival, they took seats out on the control floor, under the commander's chair, where Numbuh 1 sat down, and strapped in.

Numbuh 2 quickly jumped into the pilot's chair, beginning flight preparations.

During the past couple of days, he and Double D had been practicing the operation of the ship's advanced flight-controls and tactical shielding systems, respectively, using equally advanced training simulations, which they easily mastered. Meanwhile, everyone else continued their respective training as well.

"Alright, fire it up, Numbuh 2! We don't want those villains' asses to continue on un-kicked now, do we?"

"Yee-haw!" Numbuh 2 shouted excitedly and joyfully, as the ship lifted. Then, it was off. "Approximate ETA is . . . eight hours!" he yelled, accelerating even more when they came out of the Earth's atmosphere within a matter of seconds.

"Good. Alright, those that need to get some sleep, go do so now. I need everyone at their best – and that includes you as well, Numbuh 2," said Numbuh 1.

"Crap! Fine." he responded, engaging the ship's autopilot.

"I need everyone awake at 6:00. Eat a quick breakfast, do what you have to do, and be here by 6:30! You won't need your armor for this, so just dress as you normally would."

They then headed down to the Barracks level. The rooms could only house two people at a time, so Numbuhs 3 and 5 shared a room, while Numbuhs 2 and 4 shared the one across from them. Double D and Ed shared one next the girls' room, while Jack and Eddy stayed across from them. Chad and Cree took a room at the far end of the hall, across from the main Captain's quarters, where Numbuh 1 slept. He had told Jack that he could have it instead, but Jack politely refused, even after Numbuh 1 insisted multiple times.

Everyone (minus the Eds) quickly drifted off to sleep, too experienced to be nervous and too tired to even think about the battle that would take place the following morning.

The Eds, having the least fighting experience of everyone else by miles, were preoccupied with thoughts of fear of the unknown, of what could go wrong, and of the possibility of losing their friends, but after a while, exhaustion caught up with them and they too drifted off and managed to rest for a fair amount of time.

Later, at 6:00 in the morning, every room's P.A. speaker went off with a very annoying and alarming sound, even worse than typical alarm clocks, thus startling everyone awake.

The sound continued, even after everyone arose, because Numbuh 1 had forgotten the ship's control device up on the command bridge, so he quickly went out running for it.

They drowsily got to getting dressed, after which, they slung and belted on their weapons and gear. When the alarm stopped, they headed out into the dining area, meeting Numbuh 1 in the hallway on the way there.

"Nice _pajamas_, Numbuh 1!" laughed Cree, whistling, as did the other girls.

"Yes, yes, ha, ha," said Numbuh 1, who was in nothing but a pair of red, spandex-like boxers, "What? A guy can't sleep in the _almost-nude_, now-a-days?" He then brushed past the crowd and went into his room to get ready as the others went into the dining area.

"What are these?" asked Jack, holding up an M.R.E. that was in a large box full of them on one of the tables.

"M.R.E.s?! Cool!" said Numbuh 2.

"M . . . R . . . Es?" asked Jack.

The Eds, Numbuhs 3-5, and Cree were confused as well.

"Yeah, it stands for 'Meal Ready to Eat'. One of my uncles who was into survival stuff had a basement packed with these! They're pretty good, depending on what you get." He then rummaged through the box, taking out anything that caught his interest.

"What kind of flavors are these?! They're in some sort of alien language!" he said, in disappointment, "I guess I'll have to try them all!" He then picked one that had an interesting package.

The others did so as well, some choosing whichever package corresponded with their favorite color.

Numbuh 1 entered and looked out to everyone. "We're almost there." He then picked out a green one and sat down next to Numbuh 2, who was enjoying his meal.

"This is actually pretty good!" Numbuh 2 said with a stuffed mouth.

The others disagreed.

"Don't worry, guys. I was a little grossed out by them at first too, but I got used to the alien cooking pretty quickly."

After they ate a while longer, another alarm sounded, which Numbuh 1 immediately shut off with the control. "Alright then, let's head out to the bridge."

They all rode up on the spacious elevator, and walked into the command bridge, taking their respective seats again.

Numbuh 1 turned toward the Eds, "Alright, Double D, when we're about fifty-thousand miles away from the moon, I need you to activate the ship's camouflage and the anti-radar field, just as I showed you. They'll never see us coming!"

"Actually, we are now! 53,589 miles to Moonbase, and closing in fast!" announced Numbuh 2.

Double D quickly flipped a small blue switch for the anti-radar field, followed by a white switch for the invisibility camouflage, "Alright, we're clear!"

The others finally relaxed as soon as he said that. They had been very fearful that they would be spotted and shot down by the Moonbase's powerful and far-reaching radar and defense systems.

The Moonbase soon came into view. It was basically a treehouse just like every other KND base, except that it was several times more colossal and wasn't a normal Earth tree. In fact, it looked as if it were from another planet altogether. The original had been destroyed during the _Grandfather Crisis_ when Numbuh 1 crashed the entire thing into Grandfather, effectively defeating the monstrous tyrant, and then was later rebuilt. It looked almost futuristic, opposed to its first, cruder look: It was now a brightly glowing, yellow tree with pinkish-red glowing orbs in place of leaves, and atop the branches was KND Global Command, which resembled a futuristic city, complete with a vast system of large pneumatic tubes for fast transportation from one of its various areas to another. It was a very stunning, almost ethereal sight indeed.

When they were about 5000 miles from the tree, Numbuh 1 gave the order to shut off the ship's main engines.

Numbuh 2 then guided the ship towards one of the creepily organic landing bays, which resided within a certain few of the red orbs that hung from the colossal branches.

When the ship was firmly on the ground, Cree took out and strapped on her wrist computer from her days with the Teen-Ninjas and quickly hacked into the treehouse's central computer mainframe.

"What?" she said to the others when they gave her weird looks, "We don't want the cameras to see us now, do we?"

When she announced her success, Double D flipped the white switch once more, disabling the ship's camouflage.

They all held their breath, halfway expecting some alarm to still go off, despite Cree's efforts. When nothing happened, they immediately stepped off of the ship.

The entire chamber seemed to glow various hues of red, and the walls and floor contained what appeared to be pulsing veins. It was also entirely vacant, save for a destroyed maintenance station in the center. Because the chamber was organic, the floor of the landing bay squished and seemingly moved under their feet due to the pulsing.

Ed immediately knelt down and began poking it with a finger.

"It's so cool! It's alive!" he exclaimed, laughing.

"Ed! Be quiet!" scolded Double D, seemingly whispering. His curiosity quickly got the better of him though, and he too investigated his strange, alien surroundings.

Numbuh 1 quickly remembered what section they were in exactly, and formulated a strategy.

"Alright, I'm going to need Jack and Numbuh 2 to go with me to cause a diversion." said Numbuh 1, "Meanwhile, the rest of you, head down into the lower levels. Free the prisoners in the holding cells and then head to the vehicle depot. There should be some mechs down there. We're going to need those in case _Father_ goes dragon on us again. Also, keep communication to a minimum, unless it's truly needed. Finally, set your Solar-Rifles to stun. I know that this is a war, but I want to keep unnecessary human casualties to a minimum – even if they're villains."

Jack and Numbuh 2 began walking over to him, when Chad suddenly spoke up.

"Wait, Numbuh 1, maybe it would be best for Jack to go with these guys, and I'll go with you in his place."

Numbuh 1 was about to refuse, when Chad continued.

"Think about it. Jack is by far the best fighter in our group, so it should make sense for him to watch over the ones with the least battle experience." He was, of course, referring to the Eds.

This made Eddy's skin crawl again. There was something familiar in his voice that he just couldn't quite put his finger on. He thought about protesting, but decided to await Numbuh 1's judgment.

"Perhaps you're right, Chad. Okay then, you'll come with us." He then turned to Jack, "Watch them like a hawk, alright?"

"Of course." said Jack, bowing his head as he walked back over to the Eds.

"Uh, hey, Numbuh 1! Do you think that I can go with you guys?" asked Eddy, reluctantly. He really didn't want to go with them, for he was sure that it was going to be much more dangerous, but he had the strangest feeling that he _should_ go with them.

Numbuh 1 thought about it for a moment, and finding no real fault with it, finally nodded.

Eddy quickly walked over to them, and both groups wished the other the best as they headed their separate ways to the elevators that were on opposite sides of the bay.

* * *

Cree took point as they made their way down wide, dimly-lit hallways that were decorated with pictures of the most accomplished, prestigious, and famous KND operatives of the past. They had all been either covered with profanity-laden graffiti, crudely altered with mustaches and various other comedic add-ons, or downright missing and replaced with horribly twisted, disturbingly disfigured drawings that only slightly resembled the people that they had been loosely based on.

They stopped as soon as they stepped into a large, well-lit circular room that had another, smaller round room built into the center. The room had one continuous window around its entire circumference, and from within the room, they were able to slightly make out some faint shouting.

"Judgin' by the voices – faint as they are – I'd say that it's ol' Mr. Wink and Mr. Fibb. They sound pretty angry. I'd say Numbuh 1's really giving them hell!" whispered Numbuh 5, at first smiling, but then gaining a grim look on her face, "This was our newly built surveillance sector. Stupid Mr. Wink and Mr. Fibb have access to every camera, security system, and alarm within the base in there!"

"Who?" asked Double D, quietly.

"We'll fill you in on our former, rogues gallery of ridiculousness later," she responded, "but for now, let's get a move on. The fact that they're angry probably means that Numbuh 1 has already started his diversion, and we're not even at the vehicle depot yet! We'll have to find a way around them, and quick!"

"Not to worry, Abby, I've found us a quick alternate route" whispered Cree, quickly typing on her wrist-computer. When she pointed to a heavy-looking steel door down the hall behind them, they proceeded into it, eventually coming out to another elevator lobby. After Cree hacked one of the elevators' cameras, they quickly boarded it and pushed the button for the vehicle depot.

Cree brought up the camera feed from their target destination and noticed that it appeared to be devoid of anyone whatsoever.

"Good, we should be in the clear on arrival. No hostiles detected," she said, typing something once again.

Just then, something went wrong.

The elevator slowed down and eventually stopped completely with more than half of the way down still left to go.

"What is this?!" said Jack, visibly annoyed. He dared not draw his sword, for he was still within everyone's immediate proximity.

Soon, the lights flickered out, leaving everyone in complete darkness.

"All of you, remain close to me!" yelled Jack.

But it was too late.

When the lights came back on, Jack found that only he and Numbuh 4 remained.

Before he could say anything, a voice sounded from a PA speaker within the elevator.

"Hello, Numbuh 4 and, uh, what was it, again?. . . _Samurai Jack_? That's stupid! Anyways, we've been expecting your arrival."

"I know that stinkin' voice!" yelled Numbuh 4, angrily, "It's that hunchbacked windbag, Mr. Boss!"

"Numbuh 4, I see that you're still short as ever. Enjoy the rest of your _short_ life holed up in that elevator! Don't bother trying to escape. The thing's made of extremely thick, reinforced steel. Too bad – you're about to miss one hell of a show in the training arena! Well, catch you later. . . or not!"

"Damn it! No! Kuki!" yelled Numbuh 4, pounding his fists into the wall.

"Stand back!" said Jack, sternly, as he put his hand on the pommel of his sword.

He took what appeared to Numbuh 4 to be one swipe, but was actually several, and the elevator's steel doors crumbled outwards.

"Where is this _training arena_?" asked Jack.

"Just follow me, mate! I know _exactly_ where it is!"

* * *

"The _Disruptor Plane_ is out and flying high!" exclaimed Numbuh 2, holding a remote controller, "It'll automatically fry every camera that it passes!"

"Good work, Numbuh 2. Was this that great new invention that you teased me about, earlier?" asked Numbuh 1.

"Nah, I made this a couple years back. I'll show you my new invention later – It's a surprise!"

Numbuh 1 nodded. He knew how secretive Numbuh 2 could get with these things.

"Hey twerps, we should get moving!" said Chad, immensely annoyed.

"Right, come on, Eddy!" said Numbuh 1, taking point.

Eddy brought up the rear, supposedly keeping a look out, but he couldn't concentrate. He couldn't shake the bad feeling in his stomach.

Their destination was the Alpha CPU Chamber, where Numbuh 1 planned to upload false video feeds into every camera, effectively masking their location and throwing off and confusing every villain within the base while drawing them away from Numbuh 5 and the others downstairs.

Cree would have been able to do this as well, but it would have taken even her an immensely long time to do it remotely from her wrist-computer.

They quickly crossed into the medical wing and continued down every corridor, carefully following Numbuh 2's plane. The facility looked hauntingly abandoned, save for a few beds that appeared to have been recently used. Everything else was just either tipped over, on the floor, or broken. The place was a mess.

They came up to the entrance to the training and recreation sector, but before they could open the door, it swung open so hard, that it flew off of its hinges.

"Big Brother, mad!" yelled the towering brute that entered. He was a giant of a man, with short blonde hair that ended with a flat-top, and he wore a red and white striped shirt with torn jeans.

"This guy is still alive?!" yelled Numbuh 1, quickly jumping back, "and how did he know we were here?!"

Numbuh 2 quickly directed his small plane back towards him and swiftly stored it within a dark blue backpack. He was definitely not risking keeping it out with this guy around.

"You!" yelled Big Brother, rushing at him.

"Uh-oh," whimpered Numbuh 2, rolling out of the giant's path at the last second, causing him to smash his gigantic head through a wall, getting him momentarily stuck. _I guess he still remembers our last encounter!_ He thought.

Both Chad and Numbuh 1 promptly delivered roundhouse kicks to the backs of the giant's knees right before he could slip his head out, forcing it to pop out of the wall as he fell onto his back.

But Big Brother was by no means done. From the ground, he reached out and grabbed Numbuh 1's ankles with one of his massive, stubby hands and launched him fifteen feet down the hall.

Chad immediately ran up and started a chain of furious kicks, causing the giant to cry out in pain when he used his arms to shield himself as he stood up.

Chad quickly ducked and rolled out of the way when the brute blindly threw his fist out.

Eddy, finally having mustered up his courage, rushed him and began a series of quick and powerful, concentrated strikes that actually managed to knock the wind out of Big Brother.

As he struggled to regain his breath, Numbuh 1 ran back and launched himself into a flying kick, successfully toppling the giant at impact.

Numbuh 2 walked over to him as he lay on the ground, "Nighty-night!" he said, finally stomping Big Brother into unconsciousness.

Everyone else sat or stood in place, catching their breath.

"Nice one, Eddy!" praised Numbuh 1, giving him a look of approval, "that striking technique of yours . . . It's the second time that I've seen you use it, and both times on big brothers, oddly enough. I find it very interesting. You'll have to teach it to me!"

Eddy smiled back and nodded, "Gee, thanks. Just ask Jack. He'd definitely be a better teacher and more than happy to teach it to you."

Just then, an alarm went off, filling the hall with red and blue lights.

"Oh no! When Big Brother attacked, I stored the Disruptor Plane! It probably didn't get the chance to fry a nearby camera!" cried Numbuh 2, giving himself a loud face-palm.

"Everyone, stick close and follow!" yelled Numbuh 1, running at a cautious pace so as to be able to effectively respond to any threat.

The others did the same and moved as one unit through the doorway that led them to the training facilities.

"Wait, Numbuh 1," said Chad, "we may be able to get to the Alpha CPU Chamber faster if we cut through the combat-training arena!"

"Fine! Just get in there quickly!" yelled Numbuh 1, opening a set of large double doors that made up the entrance. "In - Now!"

They all scrambled into the dark room and ran out onto the middle of the field when lights as bright as search lights came on all around them, stopping them all in their tracks.

The circular arena floor was vastly spacious, save for a small cluster of large, wrecked mechs in the center. The floor itself was blue and felt like training mats not unlike those found in Martial Arts schools. But it was much tougher since a lot of the combat training was not only human vs. human, but also human vs. vehicle. Some sporting events were also held there regularly.

But what disturbed Numbuh 1 were the various dry blood splatters that seemed to occupy quite a lot of the arena floor, and some sections of the walls.

Along two parallel sections of the arena's circumference, there were spectator seats, and high up on one section of the wall between the two sets of spectator seats, there was a large 90' x 15' window, behind which, was the VIP area.

On either side of the large window, there were two speakers, from which a familiar voice sounded as the lights dimmed.

"Welcome, Numbuh 1, to my _proving grounds_!"

It was Father's voice.

Years ago, Father had been the biggest threat to the KND. He was a cruel, ruthless mastermind who tried wiping the KND out of existence and almost succeeded multiple times. He was also extremely formidable in combat due to his supernatural powers, such as levitation, telekinesis, and most dangerous of all, the ability to not only produce fire, but to control it as well, even having a resistance to it to the point where he could envelope his entire body in a blazing aura of flames and not feel a damn thing. Oh yeah, he could also shapeshift into a giant freaking fire-breathing dragon! But his most distinguishing and disturbing feature was his appearance. He appeared to be a normal man, only he always appeared as a shadowy, black silhouette that was outlined with red, even when standing in direct sunlight. he was also revealed to be Numbuh 1's Uncle, Benedict Uno.

Numbuh 1 clenched his fists as he responded.

"Father! Come out here and face me!"

"All in due time, Nigel Uno. I have something else in store for you!"

"What –" Numbuh 1 was cut off as a fist smashed into the right side of his face, sending him toppling over to the ground.

He regained his senses just in time to see a foot coming down, and immediately rolled over to avoid it, finally catching sight of his assailant.

"Chad! Why?" he yelled in both frustration and confusion.

Eddy and Numbuh 2 rushed at Chad, but he easily knocked them back with a pair of swift kicks.

"Ever since I found out that you had been selected to join what I believed to be the Galactic Kids Next Door, I've always hated you! My hate only grew after you beat me in our last fight during the Peace Treaty Incident! Ever since that day, all I've wanted to do was knock you into a coma!" He lunged with fists raised, but Numbuh 1 back-flipped onto his hands and then back onto his feet, putting substantial distance between them again.

"I'm not going to fight you, Chad! I thought we were past that!"

"Oh, you're going to fight, Numbuh 1!" boomed Father's voice from the speaker.

"Yeah! And you'd better give us a good show!" yelled another voice.

"Mr. Boss! I figured as much."

"Not only me, but the rest of us are here too! The Delightful Adolescents From Down the Lane, Mr. Wink and Mr. Fibb, Knightbrace, The Common Cold, Count Spankulot, Gramma Stuffum, Crazy Old Cat Lady, Mr. Fizz, Chester, Professor Triple Extra-Large, Cuppa Joe, Mega-Mom and Destructo-Dad, Sticky-Beard, The Dodgeball Wizard, President Jimmy, Potty-Mouth, and others." he replied.

"Hey! You mentioned Potty-Mouth, but not _me_?!" said yet another familiar voice.

"Fine, fine! Yes, the Toiletnator as well, _unfortunately._"

"Darn it!" screamed the Toiletnator in frustration.

"Well you can forget about the fight because it's not happening!" assured Numbuh 1.

Just then, his wrist communicator began buzzing.

"What's the word, Numbuh 4? Over." whispered Numbuh 1, pretending to be rubbing the back of his neck.

"This place is a freakin' maze! I almost got lost! They tried trappin' me and Jack in an elevator, but we escaped! Ha! Dumbasses probably think that we're still in there!" yelled Numbuh 4, "But, bad news . . . the stupid villains have the others! Over."

"What?!" whispered Numbuh 1 angrily.

"Just like I said, Mr. Uno – you _will_ fight!" laughed Father.

_Damn it, he heard everything! No use in hiding it now._ thought Numbuh 1.

There was some faint talking when suddenly Mr. Boss yelled.

"Are you sure? How the hell did they get out?!"

Numbuh 1 turned back towards the others.

"Guys, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the villains have the others minus Jack and Numbuh 4."

"Double D! Ed!" cried Eddy with a look of terror.

"Oh no! Abby!" cried Numbuh 2.

Hearing him refer to Numbuh 5 by her actual name still sounded strange to Numbuh 1.

"Father, if you hurt any of them, I'll do even worse to you!" threatened Numbuh 1.

"What was that? Oh, alright. Well, Mr. Uno, it seems that Cree would like a word with you." said Father as he passed his microphone.

After some silence, Cree began speaking.

"Nigel, listen. I know that you don't want to fight Chad, but he was promised a chance to fight you."

"Promised? In exchange for what?"

"In exchange for intel on your plans. I'm the one who gave you guys away."

"I suspected something was up. Your wrist computer was doing a lot more than just hacking our security systems now, wasn't it?"

"It was for a good reason. I was also promised something . . . I was promised that my parents would be able to be brought up here, where it's safe."

"Safe? You're standing in a room that might as well be an insane asylum!"

"Hey!" yelled Crazy Old Cat Lady, "We're not _that_ crazy!"

"That's not all, Nigel. . . They also agreed to let yours and your friends' parents to stay up here as well."

Numbuh 1 stood in shock at her statement, but quickly regained his composure as he processed the implications of what she'd said.

"Cree . . . why do you speak as if the Earth is lost for good?!"

There was silence.

Numbuh 1 continued.

"There's no need to bring them up here, because we're going to retake our home! You really thought that I would just let the Chimera to continue ravaging our planet?!"

"They have an army!" she yelled.

"We have Samurai Jack!"

Once again, there was silence, until it was broken by Father.

"Well, Mr. Uno, either way you look at it, you're still fighting or it's out into the cold vacuum of space for your friends!"

"Fine," he put his wrist near his mouth and began whispering near-inaudibly so as to prevent even Father's acute hearing from picking it up, "Protocol Beta 1 Arena, Alpha 4 VIP room! Over."

"Roger that, Numbuh 1! Finally! Over." responded Numbuh 4.

The protocol called for Numbuh 4 to head to the VIP room while he provided a distraction in the arena.

Numbuh 1 discarded his solar-rifle, as did Chad as well, and dropped into a defensive fighting stance.

"Numbuh 2! Eddy! Get out of here!"

As soon as they were out, Chad immediately rushed him, aiming for a takedown, but Numbuh 1 quickly countered by jumping at the last moment and drove his knee right into his opponent's face, stumbling him.

Chad snarled furiously as he let loose a barrage of attacks, concentrating on stomach and face strikes.

Numbuh 1 blocked a good amount of the attacks, but let a few slip through his defenses, as is unavoidable in any fight with an opponent of near-similar skill, resulting in a short daze that he quickly snapped out of just in time to receive yet another fist to his left cheek.

Taking advantage of the momentum in his already spinning torso, he threw a back roundhouse kick that smashed squarely into the right side of Chad's head, allowing Numbuh 1 to re-balance himself for an immediate follow-up.

Before Chad could recover his senses, he took yet another strong kick across the backs of both of his knees, bringing him down into a kneeling position.

He quickly rolled out of the way as Numbuh 1 launched a flying knee at his head, standing up quickly and bringing his guard up.

_He's improved significantly since our last fight,_ thought Numbuh 1, rethinking his strategy, _I don't know whether to fight him seriously or continue buying Numbuh 4 and Jack some time! If I continue holding back, he could end up squeezing out a win! Either one of us could end up finishing this in seconds no matter what I choose. There must be a way to prolong this fight!_

Then, an idea hit him. He began backing up towards the ruined mechs, keeping both eyes on Chad.

_What's he doing? Is he trying to lure me that way? _thought Chad, reluctantly edging forward.

As soon as Numbuh 1 was within ten feet of the wreckage, he scrambled into it, prompting Chad to run into the cluster of machinery after him.

* * *

Jack, Numbuhs 2 and 4, and Eddy made their way to the VIP area. Jack and Numbuh 4 ran into them while passing the arena, and had them tag along.

Upon arrival, they stopped outside of the door and listened in.

"Excellent entertainment as always, Father! Did you see how much of Numbuh 1's blood he spilt with that beautiful kick!" exclaimed a multitude of voices.

They were the Delightful Adolescents from Down the Lane. They, along with Father, had been the KND's worst group of enemies back in the day. They were five teens who, disturbingly, spoke as if they were all one entity, and were actually the famous Sector Z of the KND who went missing one day, only to be _delightful-ized_ by Father to be his dorky children and subordinates. As such, they're technically Numbuh 1's adoptive cousins.

Numbuh 4 gritted his teeth in anger and nearly kicked the door down when Jack stopped him.

"Please, allow me, again."

There was another flash, followed by the door crashing inwards as Jack jumped through, sword unsheathed.

"What the hell?!" yelled both Father and Mr. Boss as they both turned around in their leather executive seats to see Jack standing in front of them with his sword aligned with both of their jugulars.

Jack turned to his left and spotted their missing friends. They were all tied up with multiple ropes that met at a single knot, and were all gagged.

"Father!" cried the DAFDTL in their creepy, _Legion_-like voice.

"Um, may I help you?" asked Mr. Boss, smiling nervously.

"That was freakin' awesome!" exclaimed Numbuh 4, walking in with his sleeves rolled up. "You were all like _whoosh!_ And then you were all like _shing!_ It was totally crazy!" he waved his arms around as if he had a sword, trying, very badly, to imitate what Jack had done. "What's _excellent entertainment_ now, Delightful Dorks?!"

"Bravo, Mr. Samurai! But it seems that you're finally outmatched!" laughed Father.

Jack was about to ask what he meant when suddenly, something hit him, hard, sending him crashing through the window and out into the arena.

Before gravity could take its full grasp on him, though, he unsheathed a tanto that he kept hidden within his robe and hurled it at the ropes that held the others, barely missing Double D as it cut through the knot that held them all together.

Once the hostages were loose, Numbuhs 2, 3, 4, and 5 charged at the villains, eager for a fight.

Jack landed on his feet, and rolled in order to lessen the impact, when something landed right in front of him at the same time that he came to a stop.

He quickly jumped back and held his sword at the ready.

"Who are you?!" he demanded.

What stood before him was a very tall, masked man who wore a strange, ninja-like garb with black steel armor across his chest, shoulders, and arms that looked to be outlined with a gold-like metal.

The man pointed a finger at Jack and said in a distorted voice, "Samurai Jack, by order of our merciful lord, Warmaster Surt, I am to offer you a chance to spare your own life."

Jack simply held his ground, keeping silent.

Mr. Boss' voice sounded above them as did a bunch of other voices.

"Hey, Mr. _Vanguard_, what are you doing?! We could use your help up here!"

"I think not! My only mission here is to make a deal with Jack!"

"What?! You bastard! You mean that this whole time, you were never sent here to guard us?!"

The masked man, very much annoyed, responded, "You fool! I could care less about what happens to the lot of you clowns! But lucky for you, my lord does! Head to the evac point! The plans have changed. Tell Father that I'll still call off the Chimera, but he cannot have the Earth until he has captured at least a dozen worlds for our lord!"

Mr. Boss, red with anger, was about to respond when Numbuh 4 jumped on him and pulled him back into the fray.

The masked man turned back towards Jack.

"The offer is as follows: Join the Fallen Hand, do a few . . . _cleansing_ jobs in various dimensions for us and get a free pass to your own time, or, you can refuse and die!"

"Death in battle would be much more honorable than living my life as a remorseless murderer like you!"

The masked man looked down and simply shook his head.

"You choose death? . . . So be it. But don't say that I didn't warn you. You and your friends' days are very much numbered, so spend them well. After my master has begun amassing his forces, we'll be on the hunt."

"Then you tell your master," said Jack, smiling confidently, "that it is the _Warriors Next Dimension_ who will be hunting for _him_!"

* * *

"Come out, coward!" yelled Chad, furiously frustrated.

Silence.

Chad slowly continued into the wreckage, fists at the ready, waiting for any little clue as to where his opponent lurked.

Numbuh 1 sat crouched within the open cockpit of one of the mechs, seven feet over Chad. He then slowly peaked over the side to see his opponent's exact position.

Chad was passing under a thin steel pole that was wedged between two mechs. Beyond that was a corner that turned left into another passageway within the wreckage.

"The wuss must be down this way!" he said, clenching his fists in anticipation.

As soon as Chad passed the beam, Numbuh 1 quickly but quietly stood up and dropped down.

Chad heard a faint sound and turned, but only enough to see Numbuh 1 grab the beam, swing, and kick both feet directly into his chest, sending him crashing back into a giant metal arm.

Immediately after landing, Numbuh 1 closed the distance, but Chad dodge-rolled to his right, into the other passageway.

Numbuh 1 didn't bother turning and just used his momentum to jump and place both feet onto the wall, immediately pushing off with his right foot and twisting to the left for a massive aerial kick to Chad's head, spinning him around twice on his way to the ground.

Upon landing on his back, Chad scissor-kicked Numbuh 1's legs, bringing him down as well.

They both scrambled back onto their feet and furiously exchanged attacks.

Numbuh 1 began gaining the upper hand by using the elbow and knee strikes that Numbuh 529 taught him, edging Chad back into the other passageway, but his opponent was a quick-thinker and backed away to give himself some room for a back-flip kick that caught Numbuh 1 squarely under the chin, causing him to geyser out a substantial amount of blood when his head was thrown upward.

He fell back, in a daze, but quickly snapped out of it. Deciding he'd had enough, Numbuh 1 rolled out of the way of one of Chad's stomps and back-elbowed the side of his knee, bringing out a cry of pain.

After standing once more, he blocked and evaded a flurry of angry attacks and hammered his fists together on both sides of Chad's head, specifically on the ears, dazing his opponent and allowing him to unleash a furious combination of strikes. Finally, he jumped up and brought his downturned left elbow directly onto Chad's forehead, sending him stumbling backwards past the last two mechs at the end of the passageway where his legs finally gave out on the open space of the arena.

"Had enough, Chad?!" yelled Numbuh 1, standing over him, struggling to catch his breath.

Chad, fighting to catch his breath, struggled to sit up and spat blood on Numbuh 1's brown leather shoes, and then fell back, exhausted and in worlds of pain.

Numbuh 1 turned away from Chad and also spat out some blood. He had no hate towards Chad –only pity.

Out of nowhere, a loud noise that sounded of glass shattering filled the arena from above.

Numbuh 1 and Chad looked up at the opposite side of the arena and saw Jack fall from the VIP room's window, followed by a tall figure.

Chad laughed and said, "That must be _him._"

"What? Who?!" demanded Numbuh 1.

"When Cree and I were on your ship, we contacted Father and told him everything that you told us about the RND and the Fallen Hand." Chad sat up once again, clearly in pain. "To our surprise, Father already knew everything, courtesy of what they called an _Ilumari Elite_ that enlisted all of the villains up there into the Fallen Hand." He gestured towards the VIP area and continued, "They work for Surt, now!"

Numbuh 1 painfully gritted his teeth in anger. It didn't shock him that the villains would do such a thing, in fact, he expected them to. But to hear it confirmed . . . well, that was just a whole new level of fury.

"Am I to assume that you now work for Surt as well?" inquired Numbuh 1, angrily.

"I haven't chosen a side, yet. But that beating you gave me didn't help your case at all."

"You brought that on yourself!" yelled Numbuh 1.

"Whatever!" barked Chad, spitting out more blood, "Don't think that this is over!"

Numbuh 1 didn't bother responding and walked away, leaving behind the broken shell of a man that was once his former mentor, role model, and most of all, friend.

_You're right, Chad,_ thought Numbuh 1, _as long as Warmaster Surt still breathes . . . this will never be over!_

He slowly continued towards the arena's exit when Jack called out to him.

"Numbuh 1! Are you alright?"

"I'm feeling better than Chad, at least," replied Numbuh 1, propping himself up against the wall.

Jack offered to support him up, but Numbuh 1 declined as a bright light flashed from the VIP room.

"Hurry, go check on the others!"

* * *

Ed was the first to awaken on the floor of the VIP room. He got up off of his own face and looked around. Everyone else was on the floor.

"Cool! Do it again!" he laughed as he sat up.

"How about not, Ed?" said Double D, sitting on a chair, behind him.

"Double D! How did you not go to sleep?" asked Ed, curious.

"If you must know, Ed, when the man in the dark blue jumpsuit with headgear and a giant toothbrush on his back yelled out _anesthesia grenade_, I was apparently the only one, besides the villains, who held his breath."

"Hey!" said Numbuh 5, sitting up, yet still in a daze, "To be fair, we were too busy actually _fighting_ the enemy instead of hiding under the socks on our heads!"

Everyone else began waking up as well and slowly stood up just as Jack jumped in through the window with his sword unsheathed.

"Hi, Jack!" exclaimed Ed, "I'm numb! Hahaha!"

Jack breathed out a sigh of relief and sheathed his katana.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Well, after we were set free, Numbuh 4 and that _Mr. Boss_ fellow started fighting while everyone else got into the wackiest shoot-out that I've ever seen. For Heaven's sake, there were sun-beams, lasers, boogers, toilet paper, and cats being used as projectiles everywhere! As soon as the one that they called the _Vanguard_ told the villains to head to an evacuation point, an orthodontics-themed villain threw a grenade filled with anesthesia and knocked all of us out with it, with the exception of me," explained Double D.

"I see. Well, I'm relieved that everyone is alright," responded Jack, "Come, Numbuh 1 is waiting for us."

They made their way down to the arena where they found Numbuh 1 pounding his fist on one of the mechs in the middle of the room.

"What happened, Numbuh 1? I thought that you won!" asked Numbuh 5, perplexed, as was everyone else.

"I did. But I'm mad that Chad's not here! I was going to make him tell me where the villains' evac point was! I felt like smacking some sense into them for joining the Fallen Hand!"

"What's done is done. There's no way that we can catch them before they get away, and besides, we still have to rescue the prisoners and find out where the main Chimera tower is," said Numbuh 2, holding Numbuh 5 close.

After some intense thinking, Numbuh 1 finally calmed down and nodded in agreement.

"I have some good news for you all, but I'm afraid that I have some bad news as well," said Jack, snapping Numbuh 1 out of his thoughts.

"Alright, well, bad news first." said Numbuh 1.

"The Fallen Hand has set its sights on us and will soon begin the hunt."

"I see. Did the Vanguard say this?"

"Yes. He made me an offer to join with them, but I refused. They now see us as full enemies."

"Damn! Well, it had to happen sooner or later, I guess. I just wish that it was later, after recruiting more members! Anyways, what's the good news?"

"The Vanguard said that he will command the Chimera to leave your Earth."

Numbuh 1's eyes lit up, as did the others', and they broke into joyful cheer!

"Now," said Numbuh 1, becoming serious again, "about those prisoners . . ."

* * *

They all made their way down to the holding cell corridor. Upon arrival, they found it to be nearly pitch black, save for one dim orange light at the start.

Numbuh 2 flipped the main light switch on, which barely improved the lighting in the long, dingy corridor, after which, he hit the cell release switch which opened up every cell.

The prisoners cautiously walked out until Numbuh 1 explained that they were safe and free to go, at which they all yelled in joy and thanked them as they filed out, happy to finally have their lives back.

Numbuh 1 didn't recognize any of them until he finally spotted Numbuh 362, who cried tears of joy and relief as she embraced him.

Numbuh 362 had been the Supreme Commander after Chad and before Numbuh 5 and was a close friend and invaluable ally to Numbuh 1 and the others.

"Thank you for saving us, guys!" she sobbed.

"There, there. It's over. I'm so happy to see that you're okay, Rachel," said Numbuh 1.

The others hugged her in turn, as well.

Numbuh 1 looked around, puzzled, and finally asked, "Where's Fanny?" He was referring, of course, to Numbuh 86.

Numbuh 362 simply shook her head, and then responded, "Mr. Boss came in here a short while ago and took her with him. I mean, she _is_ his daughter, after all."

"Oh," responded Numbuh 1. He left it at that.

"My God, Nigel, you don't know how horrible it felt to feel so helpless and abandoned, day after day! To see some of your friends actually die!" said Numbuh 362, crying even more intensely, "I was so close to losing all hope."

"Trust me, Rachel, I know those feelings well," said Numbuh 1, referring to his ordeal on Planet Kiatu.

Numbuh 362 gained a somber look on her face, as if she could feel his pain as well.

"But that's all in the past now," said Numbuh 1, brightening up, "and just like me, you'll move on and live for those whom you still have. Now then, let's get you home."

She nodded and smiled as she wiped her teary eyes.

* * *

Chad screamed in fury as the Moonbase got farther and farther away.

Along with the other villains, he was aboard a strange ship that belonged to the Vanguard.

Cree slowly approached him as he punched down onto a table, breaking it in two.

"Baby, you should be resting in bed," she said, truly concerned.

"I can't believe that I lost . . . _again!_" he screamed, holding onto the sides of his head. "I need to get better, stronger, faster! I _need_ to kill him!"

This time, Cree grew worried. This was becoming obsession . . . no . . . _madness_.

"Enjoying your quarters?" said a distorted voice behind them.

They both turned to see the Vanguard standing at their doorway.

Cree looked at the table and tried to apologize. But the mysterious man simply raised his hand slightly, signaling for silence, at which Cree obeyed. This guy seriously gave her the creeps.

"Do not worry, I'm not mad about the table. Though, I couldn't help but overhear your plight."

"Oh yeah?" said Chad, annoyed, "What's it to you?"

Even though she couldn't see it, Cree could have sworn that the masked man was smiling.

"Well, Mr. Dickson, I may have a solution for you."

Chad suddenly grew curious and nodded, signaling his interest.

_What could this guy possibly know? _he thought, suddenly attentive.

"Did you know that the Chimera have powers and abilities much beyond that of a lowly human?" said the Vanguard.

Chad smiled devilishly.

"I'm listening."

* * *

"Party!" yelled Numbuhs 2 and 4, as well as Ed, dancing like idiotic buffoons as loud music sounded from a large sound system. The others simply watched and laughed from the red couch in the briefing pit.

"Hoagie, Baby, please turn that down! I have an announcement to make!" shouted Numbuh 5, holding a KND communicator, "I just talked to the remaining former KND operatives about joining our cause."

"What did they say?!" shouted Numbuhs 1 and 2 simultaneously.

"They're in, but we all think that we should hold a huge, public memorial service to remember the operatives who died during the Chimeran war."

"Where and when will it be held?" asked Numbuh 1.

"Two weeks from now, at the KND, excuse me, _WND_ Super Convention Center." replied Numbuh 5, "And since we're no longer operating in secret, I've decided to invite friends and family of those who died."

Numbuh 1 nodded in agreement.

"By the way, Numbuh 1, once this is all done, what will you do?"

Numbuh 1 thought for a moment. He had no idea where to start.

"You don't know of some other dimension where you can recruit some new members, do you?" she asked, curious.

"No. I have a file with a list of potential worlds, but they're all scrambled. There's no way that I'll be able to figure it out, myself. Numbuh 2 has already taken a look at it, but even he can't make anything of it."

"Try Numbuh 74.239! That poindexter actually survived!" exclaimed Numbuh 5, laughing.

"Poindexter? _Poindexter . . . _What's with that _word_?" mumbled Numbuh 1 to himself. Something about it sounded important.

Then it hit him.

He looked up at Numbuh 5, grinning widely.

"I know where to go."

* * *

(Cue ending theme: Maon Kurosaki - "Return to Destiny" - 00:00 to 01:22)

**To Be Continued. . .**

**Next Episode: Enter Dexter! The Greatest Mind!**


	5. Enter Dexter! The Greatest Mind!

(I do not own any of these properties or characters! All rights go to their respective owners and affiliates!)

* * *

Author's note: Finally, Dexter comes into the mix! I decided to continue his canon from the season 2 finale "Last, But Not Beast", seeing as it was actually intended to be the ending for the whole series, so I'm regarding everything from seasons 3 and 4 as having taken place before that (which really works out since the events from that episode are never referenced later despite the major cataclysmic events that it entailed and the variety of major characters that were involved in that massive battle). Thank you all for reading and don't forget to review!

* * *

Previously on Codename: Warriors Next Dimension: Having finally arrived on his own world, Numbuh 1 reunited with his friends and former teammates, Numbuhs 2, 3, 4, and 5.

After some catching up, during which Numbuh 1 found out that Numbuh 5 had become Supreme Commander, and had begun a romantic relationship with Numbuh 2, and likewise Numbuh 4 with Numbuh 3, he then found out that their planet had been invaded by a race of deadly aliens known as the Chimera, who were freezing the Earth in order to make it hospitable for themselves. But this wasn't the only bad news that he received. He was also informed that their former rogues gallery of villains had taken over the KND Moonbase as well as the operatives there as prisoners.

Angry and filled with fighting spirit, Numbuh 1 then officially declared everyone as neither The Kids Next Door nor The Rebels Next Dimension, but rather, as The Warriors Next Dimension, after which they all, including Chad Dickson and Cree Lincoln, infiltrated the Moonbase to reclaim it.

While inside, Numbuhs 3 and 5, as well as Ed and Double D were captured by Father, Mr. Boss, and the other villains, after which, it was revealed that Chad and Cree had betrayed them by providing the villains with information on Numbuh 1's plan. Numbuh 1 was then forced to fight Chad in single combat as entertainment for the villains while Jack, Eddy, and Numbuhs 2 and 4 rushed to rescue the others, during which a firefight broke out and Jack was made an offer by a mysterious masked warrior. The offer was for Jack to join the Fallen Hand and conquer planets for Warmaster Surt in exchange for a free pass back to his own time. Jack didn't even hesitate in refusing, thus angering the Vanguard who then claimed that The Fallen Hand would soon begin the hunt for them once they had amassed more forces.

After Chad's defeat at the hands of Numbuh 1, the Vanguard then had all of the villains retreat, and ordered the Chimera to leave Earth, for it had now been promised to Father and the other villains to rule over in exchange for joining the Fallen Hand. Once the villains had retreated, Numbuh 1 and the others then released the prisoners, including Numbuh 362, the former KND Supreme Commander. Once home, Numbuh 5 contacted every surviving former KND operative and successfully got them to join the WND. Lastly, Numbuh 1, thinking of where to begin his search for new allies, finally recalled the starting point that had been provided in Numbuh 5120's message that even included a name: Dexter!

* * *

(Cue opening theme: Dragonforce - "Heroes of Our Time" - 00:00 to 02:12)

**Codename: Warriors Next Dimension**

**Season 1: Quantum Genesis – Episode 5: Enter Dexter! The Greatest Mind!**

(The Nexus Throne-Room, Lair of The Fallen Hand, Ethereal Wasteland Dimension)

Gusts of grey sand blew into the large and spacious chamber as a pair of Fallen Hand Vanguards opened two massive double-doors. The chamber was barren, save for an array of multi-colored worm-holes on either side of it, which lent the chamber its strange glow. At the far end of the room was the throne, which was intricately crafted from the bones of a large beast. The pair approached it, and immediately, dropped to one knee.

"Great and powerful Warmaster, forgive us, for we come bearing bad news."

Upon the throne sat a great Ilumari warrior. He wore a fine, long, dark-red robe that was patterned with various designs of magnificent flames that appeared to be made from gold thread. He had short straight locks of jet-black hair that he kept combed back with the exception of one lock that hung down over his face, dark-grey skin, pointed ears, eyes that were completely blood-red, and he exhaled smoke with every breath.

"On with it," his deep, demonic voice echoed throughout the chamber.

The two Ilumari, known as the Ocean Vanguard and the Land Vanguard, gulped and braced themselves as one of them reluctantly continued.

"The Sky Vanguard has arrived and will be in shortly . . ."

"And? What is so troubling?" asked Surt, raising an eyebrow.

". . . without the samurai, my lord."

"Just as I suspected." said the Warmaster, "The samurai is too pure-hearted."

The Vanguards breathed a sigh of relief. Surt was usually prone to outbursts of burning rage –quite literally, actually.

They all paused as the doors opened once again.

The Sky Vanguard walked in and kneeled before the Warmaster.

"My lord, I wish to report in."

"Proceed."

"The new recruits are all accounted for and in their new quarters . . . minus one – the samurai refused, my lord." He cleared his throat before continuing, "But that's not all. He is much more formidable than we thought. I tested him just as you ordered, and hit him with my most powerful attack -you know, the _very same_ punch that I used to slay the captain of the Ilumari Elites when we escaped from the Dead-Zone- and he was not only still _alive_, but he was nearly unfazed and stood ready for battle."

This came as a genuine shock to Surt.

"You're actually saying that this samurai may be just as powerful as you, my most elite Vanguard?"

"As much as it hurts my pride to admit it, my lord, yes he is."

"I see. Who else was with him?"

"Three humans who were from another version of Earth, and five humans who were from that dimension's Earth, including a surviving RND operative -Numbuh 1, student of Numbuh 529, to be exact."

Surt suddenly sat up straight in anger.

"I thought that Fenris had killed them all!"

"Actually, my lord, Fenris' reports mention three smaller vessels leaving from the RND Warship before its explosion. Life-scans reported one Earthling-human in one ship, two Tierran-humans –one is presumed to be Numbuh 529– and one Khajiit in another ship, and three, as-of-yet unknown species in the third ship . . . along with fresh corpses, which we deduced from their fading vital-signals. Whoever they were, they must have been traitors to the RND."

"Traitors? Well get a tracking team on them! They may be potential allies." Surt commanded, "Wait, did you say that a Khajiit was on one of those ships? From Nirn? Isn't that the planet where we-"

"-Indeed, sire," said the Sky Vanguard, still kneeling.

"Is that so? Quite an interesting note, indeed. I'd forgotten about that. But back to the matter at hand, did you deliver my message on the basis that the Samurai should refuse?"

"Of course, my lord," responded the Vanguard.

"And his response?"

"He said that it is _they,_ the Warriors Next Dimension, who will be hunting _you._"

The Warmaster began laughing maniacally, much to his men's discomfort.

"The _Warriors Next Dimension_, eh? Hunting me? They've got courage, I'll give them that! Well then, the hunt is on. Forget about amassing the rest of my forces first. We can still do that while eliminating these new pests. Get the word out to our troops to start seeking out powerful warriors to join us. Oh, and call Fenris and Sinmara back in. They'll enjoy this."

"Right away, sire!" said the Sky Vanguard, standing and turning to head out.

"Just a moment," said Surt, suddenly struck with an idea, "perhaps a great mind is what we require over a warrior at the moment. I'm quite tired of surrounding myself with more idiots. I happen to have one in mind from our surveillance reports: Susan Astronomonov, from the Earth of dimension L-45, if I remember correctly. Bring him to our cause."

The Sky Vanguard crossed both of his arms in an "X" across his chest and bowed his head in salute to the Warmaster before proceeding out of the throne-room.

"Sir, shall we continue our search for the brute who scarred you?" asked the Ocean Vanguard.

Surt leaned forward and stared at the horrid scars in his hands, after which, he clenched them into fists, which they took as a "yes", and promptly left after saluting.

Flames enveloped his entire body as he remembered that moment vividly. It angered him intensely to know that there was a being out there that could easily destroy him.

The flames began blazing much more intensely as he angrily uttered a single word:

"Garlic."

* * *

(Numbuh 2's Aircraft Hangar, The Sector-V Treehouse, Earth, two weeks after reclaiming Moonbase)

Samurai Jack wandered through the interior of D-Ship 123. He'd been restless since after the memorial ceremony for the KND operatives who died fighting against the Chimera. He wanted to leave the day after, but Numbuh 1 had told him that he still had some business to attend to, including organizing what was left of the Kids Next Door in order to induct them into the newly formed Warriors Next Dimension.

He approached an open vault door, leading into a room that emanated a blue glow where he assumed Numbuh 1 was.

Numbuh 1 stood next to the computer, where Numbuh 74.239 sat, trying to decipher the file that contained the scrambled dimension and planet IDs of potential allies.

Numbuh 74.239, though considered the greatest mind of the KND, was your typical nerd. He was a thin 14-year-old who had orange hair that stood in puffy locks, two visible buck-teeth with braces, three dark freckles on his left cheek, an up-turned nose, blue eyes, and wore a light-blue button-up shirt that was tucked into a pair of abnormally high, tan shorts. And to top it all off, he always wore a white lab-coat and spoke with a lisp.

"So far, this doesn't fit any known ciphers – codes – languages - nada! I'm sorry Numbuh 1, but I won't be able to help you," he said, dropping his head in shame.

Numbuh 1 patted him on the shoulder and said, "It's alright. Don't worry about it. I just needed to be sure. Thank you."

Jack knocked on the edge of the door-way just as Numbuh 74.239 got up from the chair and, after saying goodbye, left the room.

"Good morning, Jack. Come on in." said Numbuh 1, sitting at the computer.

Jack walked over to him and looked at the mess of letters, numbers, and symbols.

"How can anyone figure _that_ out?" he said, already getting a headache just looking at it.

"Beats me. But _someone_ had to encode it –and I think I know who." Numbuh 1 then scrolled down to the bottom of the file. The name _Dexter_ appeared next to a dimension and planet ID, and neither were scrambled.

"Are those –what did you call it?– _encoded, _as well?" asked Jack.

"No, those aren't. I can tell because the ID for any Earth, no matter the dimension, is always E-003. That means that he's on some variant of Earth in Dimension L-45. Look, we even have his exact coordinates for when we get there." He then pointed to the rest of the file. "We can tell that most of those are IDs for Earth too, no matter how scrambled they are. It's the dimension IDs that I can't figure out. Some of the letters and/or numbers aren't even in our language! Whoever this Dexter is, he must know what these symbols stand for."

"Then what are we waiting for?" asked Jack, feeling even more restless knowing that they now had a starting point.

"That's exactly what I was thinking," said Numbuh 1, "First, I'm going to contact my former RND teammates. Then, we'll have one last meeting with everyone to decide the best course of action. The meeting will be tomorrow at 8 PM. I need to call a few people, first."

"Very well," said Jack, bowing his head in acceptance before heading out.

Numbuh 1 then headed up onto the empty command bridge and, sitting in the captain's chair, immediately turned on the ship's interdimensional communications systems. He then made a video call to Numbuh 529's ship, which took about twenty minutes to finally connect.

The massive monitor above the ship's front window buzzed for a moment before revealing Numbuh 529. But something was wrong. He appeared with a sorrowful look on his face, but immediately perked up when he saw who was on the other end.

"_Numbuh 1_! I wasn't expecting you to call until after a few more days!" he exclaimed, taking a bite out of something.

"I see you're still in the habit of eating at your captain's chair. Didn't you learn your lesson after slipping on a sandwich during the Anti-Spiral Wars?" said Numbuh 1, who began cracking up, "That was hilarious! You, one of the best warriors and leaders in existence, gave a grand _Braveheart_-like speech to strengthen and inspire your troops, only to be taken down by a turkey and cheese hoagie right after!"

Numbuh 529 laughed and looked down in mock shame, "You're never going to let that go, are you?! To be fair, we were being shot at, and you distracted me when you began freaking out!"

"I freaked out _after_ you slipped, because you fell right onto Numbuh 2476 and made her steer the ship right into another volley of missiles!"

"No, as I recall, I landed _beside_ her, and then she purposely let go . . . to attack me . . . with kisses . . ." said Numbuh 529, suddenly gaining a horrified look on his face as the memories came back to him.

Numbuh 1 began laughing hysterically.

"It's not funny!" laughed Numbuh 529, "Well, okay, maybe a little."

Numbuh 1 finally calmed down enough to talk.

"So how are the girls?"

"Well, they're sleeping right now, but Numbuh 860 is doing good. She's been a big help. On the other hand, Numbuh 2476 is lazy and _affectionate_ as ever," laughed Numbuh 529, "No matter how many times I told her that I _was_ engaged to be married, she never let up on her pursuits."

Numbuh 1 suddenly caught something that he'd said and quickly asked, "Wait, you were going to be married?! What happened?"

Numbuh 529's face suddenly grew surprised, indicating that he'd let something slip that he didn't intend to, and then it became the same look of sorrow that Numbuh 1 had first noticed when he answered the call.

Numbuh 1 was worried now.

"Salvador . . . what happened?" he asked, in a serious tone.

Numbuh 529 took a minute to calm his breathing before continuing.

"Well, we all didn't want to alarm you, but before we arrived, planet Tierra had been . . . invaded. Many died before we made it here."

Numbuh 1 suddenly understood what had happened and regretted having asked in the first place.

"Oh my God, Salvador, I had no idea. I'm so sorry for your loss. I never even knew that you were engaged. Who was she? –That is, if you don't mind me asking."

Numbuh 529 took a deep breath as his eyes teared up, "No, it's fine. I'd like you to know about her. Her name was Haruko. She was a member of a clan that was constantly at odds with mine, and was one of the greatest warriors that I've ever known –she and I grew up and trained together, as rivals, under my Grandfather, after all. As kids and teenagers, we were always fighting each other and were constantly competing. Then, one day, when I was fifteen, after defending our city from a threat, we sort of, well, fell for each other. The RND recruited me about six months after that, but she turned down their offer because she had to take over as the leader of her clan, so she promised to await my return so that we could get married." Tears now ran down his cheeks before he finally looked away and took a deep breath, recomposing himself.

"Was it the Chimera?"

"Yes. She and three of my best childhood friends fell gloriously in battle, slaughtering entire _battalions_ of them in order to allow our city to be evacuated."

Numbuh 1 was speechless. _She was really one hell of a warrior!_ He thought, before finally saying, "The Chimera also devastated my world. I arrived to find Earth a frozen mess! Thankfully they've been dealt with."

"That's good to hear. We finally drove them off of our planet a few days ago as well," said Numbuh 529, calming down.

There was silence between them for a moment before Numbuh 529 finally asked, "Did you find-"

"-The vault? Yeah, don't worry. I looked it over," replied Numbuh 1.

"So, do you know what to do?"

"Yeah, I'll go and find this Dexter-guy and just have him decode the rest of the file for me."

"No, Numbuh 1, that's not all you need to do. You need to recruit him! He's probably the greatest mind that any of the universes have to offer! Did you know that he and Numbuh 5120 collaborated on much of the technology that the RND were using?"

"They what? I thought that Numbuh 5120 made it all on his own?" he asked in astonishment.

"Me too, that is, until he revealed to me that he'd actually been collaborating with Dexter and had even been refining his engineering under Dexter's tutelage."

"Wow!" exclaimed Numbuh 1, "This Dexter-guy must really know his stuff."

"Indeed he does."

Numbuh 1 looked at the time.

"Crap, I've got to go set-up a meeting with the WND! It was nice talking to you, and once again, sorry, man. I hope you feel better soon."

"WND?" asked Numbuh 529.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tell you! It stands for The Warriors Next Dimension. Since the RND is no longer around, other than you, me, and the girls, I've taken the liberty of renaming us."

"_Warriors Next Dimension_, huh? I like it!" exclaimed Numbuh 529, finally regaining the fiery spirit in his eyes that had always inspired Numbuh 1.

"Salvador," said Numbuh 1.

"Yeah?"

"Remember what you told me once, long ago: Honor the fallen by pushing forward! Let nothing stand in your way or hold you back! Always fight the good fight with everything that you've got!"

Numbuh 529 smiled and nodded with a look of fierce determination.

"Thank you. I will."

* * *

(The Laboratory, three years after "Last, But Not Beast")

The sounds of lightning boomed as a short and stocky, red-haired boy with large, round glasses, black boots, purple rubber gloves, and a white, buttoned-up lab-coat, tested his new invention: _The Tesla Hand-Cannon_. The tests involved him shooting the device at various inventions that he no longer had use for, in order to test the destructive power of his new device. So far, his tests were a huge failure, for his hand-cannon never destroyed anything, but rather, it simply overloaded each device with so much energy that they either went out of control, as was the case with his robots, or just fried themselves out.

"Rrrrg!" he gritted his teeth in frustration. "Why do I need another device that simply provides energy when I already have my own energy-reactors! Stupid piece of junk!"

Despite growing up in America and being part of an all-American family, the boy spoke with a Russian accent.

He then dropped to his knees and yelled out in his usual melodramatic way, "Nikola Tesla! I have failed you!"

The boy was none other than Dexter, boy genius, who had his own massive laboratory hidden behind the bookshelf in his room, where he kept all of his super-scientific experiments and inventions.

He continued to sulk, when he suddenly heard the noise of wanton destruction somewhere on the outskirts of his huge facility.

"Dee Dee!" he shouted as he ran for one of his vehicles that resembled a small military tank but was silver, had no artillery gun, and had a glass dome over the driver's seat.

His Lab could only be accessed after pulling out a certain book from his shelf and then providing various spoken passwords. Other than that, he had also hidden other entrance points throughout the house that only he controlled remotely. How his ditzy sister, Dee Dee, ever managed to continue getting in was one of the very few things that he could not figure out. His security was air-tight, yet she always found a way in without setting off his alarms!

"Computer, do you have a lock on her?!" he yelled, steering around his various towering inventions.

"Affirmative, Dexter. Dee Dee is nearing your power facility. Probability of complete annihilation: 99.99%" responded the female voice that belonged to his computer.

"Stupid girl! What is she thinking?!" he yelled, finally flooring the accelerator as he came out onto an open stretch.

He arrived and found Dee Dee jumping and dancing ballet all over his inventions, knocking them over and causing most of them to explode as she tossed them about with inhuman strength, all while happily singing and shouting "Wee!" innocently.

Dee Dee was Dexter's older sister of less than average intelligence. She was much taller and thinner than he was, had large blue eyes and long, blonde hair that she wore in pig-tails, and despite being a teenager now, she still almost always wore a pink ballerina's outfit.

"Dee Dee! Stop this right now! Stop blowing up my laboratory!" yelled Dexter, furiously.

Dee Dee paid him no mind and continued having her fun, prancing about and laying waste to all in her path.

She suddenly stopped in front of his main energy reactor and stood transfixed and wide-eyed upon a shiny, red, self-destruct button at its base, alarming Dexter to no end. He'd only installed that to use in case he ever needed to completely destroy his lab and leave no evidence. It took thirty minutes to detonate after being pressed –ample time to gather the family and escape before the enormous explosion.

"Dee Dee, you fool! No!" screamed Dexter, running towards her with all of the speed that his short legs could muster.

Dee Dee lifted her hand and extended a finger as she said, "Oooooooh! What does _this_ button do?"

Dexter had no choice. He raised the Tesla Hand-Cannon and took aim. He hypothesized that it would only have a stunning-effect on her, seeing as it couldn't even destroy one of his small inventions.

He fired before Dee Dee could press the button, but missed and hit the reactor instead, immediately causing it to become enveloped in millions of volts of electricity that suddenly began shooting out in every direction like a barrage of lightning.

"What have I done?! It'll overload everything connected to the power in my lab, and the house as well!" cried Dexter, running for cover, as did Dee Dee, who jumped behind his vehicle.

He almost made it to cover when he felt an intense tingling sensation, and then everything went dark.

* * *

(The War-Room, WND Global Command, Moonbase)

Numbuhs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 362, as well as the three Eds, and Samurai Jack filed into the space within the massive, ring-like table that was in the middle of the War-Room, which had served as the site of many historical war councils for the Kids Next Door in the past.

It was now to be used to decide the first course of action for the Warriors Next Dimension.

The room was filled with surviving KND operatives, eager to defend the Earth after the events of the Chimeran Invasion.

Everyone settled down as Numbuh 5 cleared her throat at the podium.

"_Whassup_, fellow operatives, this is your Supreme Leader speaking," said Numbuh 5.

She had offered Numbuh 1 the position of Supreme Commander earlier, but he modestly turned it down. He'd gotten too used to the field to spend his time taking care of paperwork while a war raged on.

"Over the past five years, there've been some very strange occurrences," she continued, "The massive creature that appeared over Russia, the wormhole that it left behind, the Chimeran Invasion that followed –it's all still so new to us. But to help you understand what is going on, I'd like to present to you all . . . Numbuh 1!"

Everyone began clapping as Numbuh 1 walked over, thanked her and took his position behind the podium. He was suddenly filled with the same feeling of familiarity and comfort that he'd felt back during his days of giving speeches for the KND.

But this wasn't the KND anymore.

Numbuh 1 cleared his throat and began his speech.

"My fellow operatives, I thank you for joining us this evening. I am Numbuh 1. Some of you younger ones may not remember or even know me, seeing as five years ago, I was specially selected to be the first KND operative to represent our planet in what we all believed to be the Galactic Kids Next Door. But, I soon discovered the truth of what they really were."

He then went on to explain about the RND, Numbuhs 529 and 1-Trillion, and the Fallen Hand, including Warmaster Surt's betrayal of the Ilumari, his imprisonment in the Dead-Zone, and his escape. He then had Jack and the Eds introduce themselves as well, until he finally concluded with: ". . . that's basically how we all ended up here. So my question to you is: Do you want to join the Warriors Next Dimension?! Will you fight back against the Fallen Hand, who ordered the Chimera to take our planet away from us?! Will you help me to rebuild our organization, and make it greater than ever?!"

Everyone in the room hollered with a resounding "yes!" as Numbuh 1 handed the podium back to Numbuh 5.

"Very well," she said, "I've given your sector-leaders their respective orders. You know what to do, -dismissed!"

They all saluted and then cheered once more before making their way out.

Numbuh 1 waved the others over to him.

"Alright then, time for our second meeting," he said, leading them over to the large round table at the far end of the War-Room.

He took out his rebranded WND wrist computer and showed them the message that he'd found on his ship, followed by the scrambled file.

"So you're saying that this _poin-Dexter_ can help us out?" asked Numbuh 2, making everyone groan with yet another one of his bad puns.

"Yes. I believe that this boy may just be what we need. I mean, no offense, Numbuh 2, but I've never seen anyone even remotely close to Numbuh 5120's level of engineering, and this Dexter-guy _taught_ him."

Numbuh 2 took no offense. In fact, he was excited about the prospect of having such a brilliant engineer to learn from.

"Alright then, so who, besides Jack and the Eds, is going with me?" asked Numbuh 1.

"I am!" yelled Numbuh 2, excitedly, "That is, if it's alright with you, Babe?"

"Go ahead, Baby," replied Numbuh 5, "but I won't be able to go, being Supreme Commander and all. I mean, _someone_'s gotta run the show around here, right?"

"Indeed," agreed Numbuh 1.

"I'm staying to help Numbuh 5 prepare the WND for any future threats," affirmed Numbuh 362.

"Well if Numbuh 2's going, then _I'm_ going too!" said Numbuh 4.

"And me three!" yelled Numbuh 3, happily jumping onto Numbuh 4's lap, which made him happier than Numbuh 2 during an attack from Gramma Stuffum.

"Very well. When we get back to the treehouse, I need everyone that's going with us to pack up and be on my ship by tonight. –Let's go get us a genius."

* * *

(Dexter's House)

Images began flashing.

_. . .A massive kaiju named Badaxtra with axe-bladed feet and tail, as well as axes on the front and back of its head, destroying everything in its path. . ._

_. . .Earth's defense forces failing to destroy it. Even the mighty superhero, Monkey, had failed. . ._

_. . .Revealing the laboratory. . ._

_. . .A giant mega-robot, made of four different armored vehicles. . ._

_. . .The kaiju's demise at the robot's hands. . ._

_. . .The flash of his Memory Wiper. . ._

Dexter, finally having regained consciousness, violently stirred awake in cold sweats. He found that that he was in his bed within his room.

"Einstein's ghost! I remember everything! The lightning from my reactor must have unleashed hidden memories! Hmm, I'll have to fix that Memory Wiper. It's supposed to _erase_, not _suppress_ memories."

Then everything dawned on him.

"It was _I _who destroyed Badaxtra, not stupid Mandark! And, my pet monkey is actually _Monkey_?!"

Then he became horrified.

"I told Mom and Dad . . . about the laboratory!? Oh no . . . they were the ones who were piloting the other vehicles! If my reactor made _me_ remember, then that means . . ."

Just then, his bedroom door flew wide open, cracking the wall when it hit, and in marched his parents. Both were infuriated, and looked like they'd been struck by lightning.

Dexter's mom was a stay-at-home housewife who was intelligent, but germaphobic, and thus, was obsessed with keeping every inch of the house clean and perfectly organized –all traits that Dexter inherited. She had short hair that was red like Dexter's, and wore dark-green high-heels, dark-green pants, a light-green polo shirt, a white cleaning/cooking apron, and yellow rubber cleaning gloves.

Dexter's dad was the stereotypical, middle-class husband who worked in an office. Other than being a sports fan and outdoorsman who enjoyed fishing, bowling, camping and golfing, he was also a clueless moron –all traits that Dee Dee inherited. He had blonde hair like Dee Dee, wore glasses, brown shoes, a white polo shirt that he kept tucked into brown slacks, and a tie that had red and orange diagonal stripes.

Dexter pulled the covers over his face until only his eyes peeked over them fearfully as they stood at the end of his bed.

"Mother . . . Father . . . I can explain . . ."

"Are you happy, young man? You could have killed us! That laboratory is nothing but trouble!" yelled his Mom.

"I agree!" yelled his Dad, "Also, is that Lab the reason why I've been paying nearly $2000 in electricity bills every month?!"

"Wait a minute, to be fair, Dad, you haven't had to pay an electricity bill since I built and installed my energy reactor," stated Dexter, still holding the covers in front of his face.

"I don't care!" his Dad continued shouting, "No matter _when_ I paid it, money is money, Dexter!"

"Wait! Mom, Dad, it wasn't Dexter's fault!" yelled Dee Dee, running in.

Their parents turned around, confused.

"I made him do it by accident. I was in there playing like usual and I seemed to be bothering him somehow, so he tried to get me to leave, but I didn't listen. Then he tried shooting me with his new lightning gun, but missed and, well, you know the rest," she explained, oblivious to the fact that she just made things worse.

"Wait . . . he tried shooting you with a _lightning gun_?!" exclaimed their Dad, outraged.

_Stupid Dee Dee! You just made things worse!_ thought Dexter, quickly arguing, "It would have simply stunned her! And I had to do it! She was about to reduce us all into nothing but mere atoms in the wind by activating my reactor's self-destruct sequence!"

"Dexter! Are you saying that there's something in your lab that's designed to explode?!" shrieked their Mom.

_Oh no! Now I did it!_ thought Dexter, trying to explain, but they would have none of it.

"That's it!" shouted his Dad, "That lab's gotta go! I don't care that we saved Earth with one of your inventions! That lab is just something bad, waiting to happen!"

"Wait, no! Dad!" shouted Dexter, on the verge of tears.

"You have one week, son. I want all of that shut down by this Saturday!"

"Dad!" now, the tears really were flowing.

"That's enough, Dexter! Listen to your Father. It's for your own good!" said his Mom.

Dexter was devastated. The laboratory was his life! Without it, he would be nothing!

But it seemed that there would be no arguing with his parents, so he reluctantly nodded.

"I'm glad that you've come to your senses, son," said his Dad, walking out.

"Thank you for understanding, sweetie," said his Mom, leaving the room as well.

Only Dee Dee remained.

"Dexter, I'm so sorry!" she said, crying, "I didn't mean to-"

"Get out," muttered Dexter. His face was buried in his hands.

"But, Dexter, I just-"

"Out, woman!"

Dee Dee understood for once and walked over to his door, slumping sadly, and glanced back at her brother once more before shutting the door behind her.

Dexter was heartbroken.

_How could this happen?! _he thought, getting out of bed. He opened the entrance to his lab and walked in.

"Welcome, Dexter," said his computer.

"My dear, Computer," said Dexter, weeping as he walked up some stairs and looked out onto the vast expanse of his Laboratory. He remembered all of the good times that he'd had within his sanctuary of knowledge, which only made the thought of what he was about to do that much worse.

_There must be something that I can do to fix this!_ he thought desperately, _Too bad that the Memory Wiper only affects recent memories! If only I had a device that could scan for and target specific memories to erase . . . Wait . . ._

He then face-palmed himself.

_For a genius, I sure am an idiot sometimes! I have my own laboratory! I can just create that very device!_

He quickly ran down the stairs, hopped into one of his vehicles, and drove to his research sector where he immediately got to work. He was determined to keep his lab.

Suddenly, intense light and shadows emanated from behind him, making him turn around in alarm.

A portal of yellow light and purple darkness had opened up and through it stepped a female. She wore a uniform that consisted of a pair of black pants that resembled Japanese hakama-pants, and a sleek, form-fitting, military-style overcoat of the same color that displayed a golden badge in the shape of a shield with two broadswords crossed behind it on the side of her left arm, up near her shoulder, as well as what appeared to be some sort of small firearm on her left hip, and two large combat knives crossed in sheathes on the base of her back. She had brown skin, long blonde hair that was tied in a bun, completely white eyes, and pointed ears.

"Oh, it's just you. Long time, no see, Lieutenant Sa'rai. Look, I haven't opened up any portals to other dimensions, or messed with the flow of time . . . recently . . . alright?" said Dexter, getting back to work.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to arrest you again, Dexter," she said in her echoing voice, "The BDF sent me here for another reason entirely."

The BDF was the Barrier Defense Force, which monitored and protected dimensional barriers. They had arrested Dexter once long ago for trapping himself and Dee Dee in a time loop after he opened a portal to another dimension and unleashed a monstrous beast that forced Dexter to send Dee Dee back in time in order to warn himself, but his past-selves never believed Dee Dee and they would just end up repeating the cycle. This went on for quite some time before the BDF stepped in and fixed everything to prevent a dimensional rip. They, along with the Ilumari Royal Military were currently at war with the Fallen Hand.

"Oh and what reason is that?" asked Dexter, curious.

"The RND has been wiped out by the Fallen hand."

"What?!" he shouted in disbelief, nearly knocking over some beakers.

"That's not all. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but, Numbuh 5120 was recently killed in action during a battle with a horde of Xenomorphs."

Dexter couldn't believe it. His vision went blurry as he went into mild shock.

"No . . . No!" he dropped down onto his knees, for the weight of her words was too much, "Such a mind . . . such potential . . . such a good friend . . . gone!" he cried.

"I'm also here to warn you, Dexter. Intelligence reports say that the Fallen Hand has sent some of its members here, to your world. We don't know for what reason, so try to keep a low-profile. They may be seeking to eliminate you."

Suddenly Dexter grew alarmed. Not because of what she had said, but because another possibility occurred to him.

"No . . . they may be here, not to eliminate me, but rather, to recruit someone."

"Who in this world could that be?" asked the Lieutenant.

Dexter looked at her grimly as he replied, ". . . Mandark."

* * *

(Cue ending theme: Maon Kurosaki - "Return to Destiny" - 00:00 to 01:22)

**To Be Continued . . .**

**Next Episode: Battle in the Laboratory!**


	6. Battle In the Laboratory!

(I do not own any of these properties or characters. This is purely a non-profit, fan-made project. All rights go to their respective owners and affiliates!)

* * *

Author's note: For those that didn't see the update note on episode 1, I've recently decided to change the title of this story to better fit the plot. I hope that this didn't cause any confusion. Thank you all for reading and please review! I love reading your excellent reviews and hope to see more! They really drive me into a creative frenzy and make me want to write even more!

* * *

Previously on Codename: Warriors Next Dimension: Numbuh 1 called a meeting with every surviving KND operative in order to brief everyone on the subject of the RND and the Fallen Hand, and in order to give them the choice to join his newly formed Warriors Next Dimension, which they all eagerly accepted.

Meanwhile on another Earth, Dexter was testing out his newest, yet failed, invention called the Tesla Hand-Cannon, which was essentially a handgun that fired bolts of lightning. During a fateful incident while trying to get his destructive sister Dee Dee to leave his lab, he fired it to stun her and thus, stop her from pressing the button that would have initiated the self-destruct sequence of his energy reactor. But Dexter missed, and accidently hit his precious reactor, triggering a major overload that affected not only his lab, but his house as well, and shocked him and his parents (fortunately, Dee Dee managed to get behind cover in time).

When he awoke, he realized that he suddenly remembered everything about the battle with Badaxtra, the monster that nearly destroyed all civilization on Earth about three years before. But Dexter also realized that if being electrocuted made _him_ remember, then that meant that his parents remembered everything about that day as well –including when he revealed his lab to them! At exactly this moment of realization, his parents busted angrily into his room, demanding that he shut down his lab, which he had no choice but to accept.

But then, an idea occurred to him. He decided to invent a device that targeted specific memories to erase, no matter how old.

But when he got to working on it, someone appeared to him in his lab through a temporary portal. It was a female Ilumari from the BDF (Barrier Defense Force) who warned him to keep a low-profile, for members of the Fallen Hand were coming to his planet for an unknown purpose. She told Dexter that they may be on their way to eliminate him.

But Dexter suspected otherwise.

He revealed his thoughts on the matter: They weren't coming to kill him, but rather, to recruit someone: Mandark!

Little did he know that he was both right and wrong.

* * *

(Cue opening theme: Dragonforce - "Heroes of Our Time" - 00:00 to 02:12)

**Codename: Warriors Next Dimension**

**Season 1: Quantum Genesis – Episode 6: Battle in the Laboratory!**

(Mandark's Laboratory)

The sounds of industry echoed throughout as an evil genius worked tirelessly to improve his lab. He needed it to be bigger, more advanced, more efficient, and just flat out better than his rival's laboratory.

Susan Astronomonov, better known as Mandark, was Dexter's main enemy and rival.

A half-Russian, half-Japanese teenager, he was tall, skinny, had black, bowl-cut hair, wore large-frame glasses like Dexter, a white button-up shirt with a brown tie that had black diagonal lines, blue school-boy shorts, and brown leather dress-shoes complete with black, ankle-length socks.

"Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!"

"What?!" yelled a surprised Mandark, shutting the blast doors around his main workstation.

"Is it Dee Dee again?! Did Dexter send my lovely, yet destructive angel to destroy my lab again?!" he shouted, both excited to see Dee Dee, but also worried at the thought of having to rebuild everything again.

Though he hated Dexter and had tried to destroy him several times in the past, he was also hopelessly in love with Dee Dee.

Suddenly, one of the blast doors flew off of its doorway and landed five feet from him.

He turned to look at the doorway, but before he could even finish turning his head, a tall, masked man appeared in front of him, causing him to stumble backwards onto the cold, metal floor.

"Ah! What do you want?! Who are you?!" he demanded as his heart raced.

"Have no fear, human, I'm not here to kill you," said the man in a distorted voice, "I've simply come seeking your talents. My master would like to recruit you into our prestigious organization."

Mandark finally calmed down.

"Which organization is this, exactly?" he asked, becoming interested.

"How would you like to become a part of an organization that seeks to tear everything down and rebuild it all in our image, all while ruling over entire universes and gaining a source of ultimate power?"

"Now," said Mandark, "you're talking my language! They don't call me Mandark, the Monarch of Darkness for nothing!"

"Excellent. But we have one condition for you to join us."

"Oh, and what condition is this?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We need you to eliminate the one called Dexter. Our spies have reported him to be an ally of our enemies and thus, we cannot let them have a mind that is on equal terms with yours."

Mandark smiled devilishly.

"I'd hardly consider us equals, but I'll gladly destroy that little pest, once and for all!"

The masked man tossed him what appeared to be a strange, USB-like drive, "You also need to use this. It contains a very aggressive virus that will erase all of his research archives after it's done transferring them to us. This will prevent the enemy from retrieving his work after he's dead."

Mandark began laughing in his usual, strange, 3/5 pattern, "Ha, haha! Ha, haha, haha! Dexter will rue the very day that he was conceived!"

"Excellent. In that case, a proper introduction is in order. I am known as the Sky Vanguard, right hand of our overlord, Warmaster Surt! Mandark . . . welcome to The Fallen Hand."

* * *

(Training Chamber, D-Ship 123)

Eddy swung his wooden bokken ferociously as Jack parried to the left and swung in the opposite direction, tracing a line across his chest.

"Damn it!" yelled Eddy in frustration.

"You're improving, Eddy!" yelled Double D, encouragingly. "You're getting slashed much less frequently, now!"

"My turn, Eddy!" yelled Ed, swinging around his custom bokken that Numbuh 4 made to feel and weigh the same as his Greatsword.

"Eddy, you must let go of anger. It will only blind you." said Jack, readying his bokken once more, "Fighting should not be driven by anger, but rather, it should be driven by the need to protect yourself and others, as well as to surpass yourself. You must have your mind only on the battle at hand. Let go of the past and future. I know that they're bothering you, just as they bother me."

"Maybe the reason that I'm getting mad is because I _can't _surpass myself!" shouted Eddy.

"Ready your weapon," said Jack, holding his stance.

"Didn't you hear me, Jack? I said that I _can't_!"

"Ready your weapon!"

Eddy reluctantly put his weapon up and dropped into a fighting stance. Jack's words echoed through his head.

_Think only on the fight! Let go of everything else!_

After taking a moment to breathe and focus, he charged forward and feigned an attack, but immediately struck in a different direction after Jack had moved to block it.

It was over in a flash.

Jack stood locked in place with Eddy. They both had their bokken crossed in between them, after which, they immediately jumped back from each other.

"Astonishing!" cheered Double D, clapping.

Eddy was shocked. He didn't expect to actually lock swords with Jack.

"Come on, guys! My turn!" yelled Ed, once more.

"Come now, Ed, you've already put in two hours of training with Jack today, as have I," said Double D, "I'm sure that it would be best for all of us to rest up. We have a long afternoon ahead of us, after all."

Jack nodded in agreement and hung his bokken on the wall, as did the others, and they headed out from the training room and passed through the command bridge where Numbuhs 1 and 2 were going over some tech blueprints, while Numbuhs 3 and 4 played a fighting videogame on the massive communications monitor.

"Which ones do you think will be the most practical to build first, Numbuh 2?" asked Numbuh 1, holding up some blueprints, the most notable of which was for what appeared to be some sort of spear/rifle, hybrid weapon.

"I think that we should wait and see what that Dexter guy says," responded Numbuh 2.

"Hmm, alright then. Good idea," said Numbuh 1 as he turned to see Jack and the Eds walking in.

"What's up, guys?" he asked.

"Just been trainin' all morning," said Eddy, still sweating.

"Awesome. So how's it going so far?"

"Better than I expected. I thought I'd hit a wall, but Jack helped me through it," said Eddy, happily.

"That's good to hear."

"Are we close?" asked Jack.

"Indeed. We should be there in another hour. I'm gonna have to have Dexter upgrade our rift-opener," he said, laughing in mild embarrassment, "I didn't think that it would burn out so soon."

Jack just nodded and left for his quarters.

"Yeah! In yo' face, Kuki!" exclaimed Numbuh 4 in his Australian accent, dancing around.

"No fair, Wally!" said Numbuh 3, "You keep choosing that same character!"

"Oh, oh, oh! Videogames!" yelled Ed, about to run off to join them.

Double D grabbed the back of his green coat and pulled him back.

"Where do you think you're going, mister?!" he said, in a fatherly manner, "We've been training with Jack all morning, and we only have an hour to make ourselves presentable to our newest member. We need to get cleaned up _–you,_ especially!"

With that, he dragged out a teary-eyed Ed.

"Well, if we only have an hour, I better go hit the shower too," said Eddy, walking out as well.

Upon arriving to his and Jack's quarters, Eddy found Jack's communicator buzzing on his bed.

_That's weird. Where's Jack?_ he thought, but dismissed it.

Answering, he immediately heard Kevin's voice.

"Yo, Jack! You there?"

Eddy responded, "Jack's off somewhere else right now. What's up, Kevin? Is everyone okay? Have those stupid aliens attacked, since we left?"

"Yeah, three times already, but everyone's fine. Me and Rolf took care of them. Anyways, about a week ago, some weird _people_ showed up here and asked us for info about where that Numbuh 1-kid went to. They said that they were from the RND, and they had the same uniforms as he did. I've been trying to get a hold of you guys all week!"

"No foolin'?! Oh and, about that, we've been busy." asked Eddy.

"But, get this, they weren't even human, man! Except for their leader, who just looked like a Mexican luchador without a mask. Seriously, that guy looked like he could have thrown a car across the street!"

"Mexican luchador? Wait, Numbuh 1 mentioned that his mentor in the RND was extremely strong and from his planet's version of Mexico. Maybe that was him!"

"Well I hope it was, because I told them that you guys had gone to Numbuh 1's home-world."

"Don't worry about it. I'll let him know. Thanks for the heads-up, Kev."

"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome. Don't screw up. Later, Dork."

Eddy hung up and was about to call Numbuh 1, but decided to tell him later and instead got into the shower, letting all worries escape him.

A little over an hour later, everyone (minus Jack) met in the command bridge and buckled in.

"We're entering the atmosphere! Numbuh 2, set the navigation system for those coordinates I gave you! Double D, adjust ship interior and exterior for gravity and outside temperatures, respectively, and engage the ship's cloaking system! And seriously, where's Jack?!" shouted Numbuh 1 as the ship began its descent.

They continued down until they appeared over a suburban neighborhood, and eventually settled over a seemingly normal house.

"Is that really it?" said Numbuh 1, feeling a bit disappointed, "I thought that this kid would have some sort of super advanced facility!"

"Numbuh 1, there's nowhere to land!" said Numbuh 2.

"I've got his address. Just find a field somewhere. We'll take the Doom-Buggies."

Just then, Jack showed up and stood beside Numbuh 1.

"He's here," said Jack.

"Who? Dexter? Of course he's here!" replied Numbuh 1, scanning for a place to land.

"No, I mean the masked man that offered me to join the Fallen Hand back on Moonbase. I was off meditating, and I felt his darkness from here."

"Well, more reason to find Dexter as quick as possible!" said Numbuh 1.

They settled on a large expanse of empty fields and headed out on two Doom-Buggies. Numbuh 1 drove one of them and had Jack in the passenger seat, Eddy and Double D in the back row, and Ed in the turret, pretending to shoot stuff as before, whereas in the other one, Numbuh 2 drove, with Numbuh 3 in the passenger seat and Numbuh 4 in the turret, pretending to shoot stuff as well, which made a lot of cars that they passed to drive off of the nearest exit ramps or flat-out stop.

"Bang, bang, bang! This is freakin' awesome, Numbuh 1! You gotta let me shoot something, over!" he yelled into the buggy's com-system.

"I'm afraid that's a negative, Numbuh 4, over," replied Numbuh 1.

"Aw, crud!" complained Numbuh 4, sulking in his chair.

"Cop!" yelled Eddy, making Numbuh 1 slow down to stay far behind the police car.

"Damn, that was too close!" shouted Numbuh 4.

Suddenly, the com-speakers began buzzing with static as an unfamiliar voice came through.

"Identify yourselves immediately! And tell me why you have _that_ ship!"

Everyone was caught by surprise.

Numbuh 1 finally answered, "This is Numbuh 1, former First-Lieutenant and First-Class Operative-Elite of the RND's Metal-Dragon Unit. I'm sorry, but am I speaking to Dexter?"

There was silence from the speakers for a moment, until finally:

"The Metal-Dragon Unit, you say?! So you knew Numbuh 5120?"

"Yes," replied Numbuh 1, filling with sad emotions, "but unfortunately, Numbuh 5120 is no longer _with us_."

"Yes, I've heard."

Numbuh 1 was about to ask him how he knew, but decided to ask him later.

"So is this Dexter, or not?" he asked again.

". . . Yes . . ."

Numbuh 1 sighed with relief and continued.

"Excellent! Dexter, I need to speak with you about urgent matters! Also, you may be in danger!"

"I know what you're going to ask me, and my answer is yes, But I must first make some preparations. You're on the freeway near my neighborhood, am I correct?"

"Yeah, but how did you-"

"I helped design those buggies a year ago! Same with your ship! I've been putting tracking devices on _all_ of my inventions over these past few years. But anyway, drive off of the freeway and head into the small woods near an upcoming lake. I'll open a tunnel there that will take you straight into my lab. Believe me, you and those buggies are the last thing that I need my parents to see right now."

After less than a mile, they turned and went down an exit ramp that led into the lake's visitor parking area. From there, they went onto a dirt road that crossed through the small, wooded area and continued until they saw the ground rise up, revealing the dimly lit tunnel.

They headed into it and followed it for what felt like several minutes before finally coming out into a vast, futuristic, metropolis of towering machinery, tubes that held strange chemicals and automated, flying robots that swarmed over them.

Both Double D and Numbuh 2 almost fainted.

"Welcome to my laboratory!" thundered Dexter's voice from above as he dropped and landed in a dramatic pose in front of them, astonishing everyone. He was in his _Dexo-Transformer_, which was a robot-suit that basically looked like a smaller, white-version of the _Power-Loader_ from _Aliens_, except that it was much more advanced, faster, more agile and powerful, and had missile launchers built into its palms.

"Freakin' sweet! I've gotta get me one of those!" yelled Numbuh 4, forgetting about the turret.

"That _is_ quite a piece of technology!" said Numbuh 2 with glazed eyes.

"I'll say! This is all so wonderful! There's so much that can be learned!" yelled Double D, just as excited.

"Thank you! Thank you!" said Dexter, making his power-suit bow to them, "But this is nothing. Wait until I show you my other ones."

Numbuh 2 began drooling.

"Very impressive, Dexter. Are your preparations underway?" asked Numbuh 1.

"Indeed. As we speak, my various factories and robots are building us a new ship. Your current ship has a tracking code that can be intercepted by our enemies. I should know –I built it. But not to worry, good fellows, as this new construct will have no such liability."

"Our ship had what?! I mean, good thinking," said Numbuh 1, recomposing himself.

Dexter beckoned over to them.

"Gentlemen –oh and, excuse me, _lady_, as well- follow me."

He led them to his main workstation and got out of his power-suit.

"Computer, monitors on. Also, be a dear and open my RND files as well."

"As you wish, Dexter," responded his computer with its sultry, female voice.

"Yo, Dex, who's the hot voice?" asked Numbuh 4.

Numbuh 3 punched him in the arm.

"Ow! Kuki, I was kidding!"

Dexter ignored him and turned toward his monitors.

"Alright, down to business," he said, bringing up various images on the screens, "Two years ago, I investigated a UFO crash site before the government could get to it. Within, I found-"

"Numbuh 5120!" exclaimed Numbuh 1, "He told me that he had once crashed onto an alternate Earth after making his escape from Fenris of the Fallen Hand. Though, I never knew that it had been this Earth."

"Indeed," said Dexter, "I brought him into my lab to study him, thinking that he was an extra-terrestrial. You couldn't imagine the look on my face when I discovered that the green life-form on my inspection table was actually human!" Dexter took a deep breath as the memories came back to him, "When he came to, I engaged him in conversation, hoping to learn of his home-world. Surprisingly, he opened up and was actually quite knowledgeable on all facets of science! It was then that he convinced me to help him in the fight against the Fallen Hand, but in an indirect way. He didn't even tell Numbuh 1-Trillion about me. He thought that I was too valuable of an asset. But no more! From now on, I -Dexter, boy genius- do hereby promise to fight directly against the Fallen Hand with you!"

He finally finished his speech and realized that he had climbed up onto his inspection table and was down on one knee in another dramatic pose.

"Well it's good to have you aboard, then," said Numbuh 1, holding out his hand.

Dexter took it and jumped off from the table, laughing in mild embarrassment.

"Dexter, Dimensional Ship Esperanza's construction is complete," said his Computer.

"Thank you, my dear," said Dexter.

"_Esperanza_?" asked Numbuh 1.

"It's Spanish for _hope._ Numbuh 529 gave me the idea years ago," admitted Dexter.

"You know Numbuh 529?" asked Numbuh 1.

"Indeed! He had accompanied Numbuh 5120 on security detail many times when they visited me. Funny story, actually, one of my giant, ferocious experimental bio-beasts got loose during one of their visits. Let me tell you, I would_ definitely not_ want to get on Numbuh 529's bad side. I was cleaning that bio-beast off of about one third of my lab for two weeks!"

Numbuh 1 busted out laughing.

"Yup, that's him, alright!"

_Wait . . . Numbuh 529?_ Thought Eddy, trying to recall something important.

Then he remembered.

_That's right! I almost forgot to tell Numbuh 1 about Kevin's message!_

He was about to say something when out of nowhere, every alarm in the lab went off and red lights began flashing.

"Oh no! This cannot be!" yelled Dexter, "It must be Mandark!"

"Or it can be me!" said an unfamiliar voice that seemed to come from every direction.

"What happened to my Computer?!" yelled Dexter, furiously,

"Dexter, we have to make an escape! We need to formulate an attack strategy so that we can come back and get the ship later!" yelled Numbuh 1.

"No! I want to know who it is that took over my lab!" he replied, angrily.

The unfamiliar voice sounded again.

"You can call me . . . Smith . . . I'm a sentient computer virus, Mr. Dexter. Your lab is now mine!"

"Hey, I know who it is!" exclaimed Ed, excitedly.

"Let me guess, Ed . . . _movies?_" asked Eddy.

"Yup!" laughed Ed.

"Well he _was_ right, once before," pointed out Double D.

Dexter suddenly roared out in fury.

"You're planning on giving all of my work and research to the Fallen Hand, aren't you!" he discerned, through gritted teeth.

"Correct, Mr. Dexter. And once they have it, you can say goodbye to _all_ of it."

"Dexter!" urged Numbuh 1, again.

"No! If we leave, the Fallen Hand will have complete information over everything that I have ever created or researched –including everything on the RND! We must stop this virus at all costs!"

"What do you need us to do?" asked Numbuh 2, with a look of fierce determination.

"We must give my lab a complete reboot! Within my power facility, to the east, there is an emergency shutdown switch! It's our only chance!" said Dexter, jumping into his Dexo-Transformer.

The others scrambled onto their buggies and trailed behind him, bobbing and weaving around and in between his inventions.

They suddenly swerved and came to a sharp halt as one of Dexter's large towers tipped over, revealing a huge, familiar robot.

"I knew it! You were behind this!" yelled Dexter, filling with rage.

"Yes, Dexter! It was I! Ha, haha! Ha, haha, haha!" laughed a voice from atop the giant robot.

They all looked up to see the figure standing on the robot's shoulder. He wore a black jumpsuit, red boots, red gloves, and a long, flowing, sinister-looking red cape that ended in multiple, fluttering tails.

"Who the hell is that?!" yelled Numbuh 4, along with everyone else.

"Mandark!" said Dexter, "He's my arch-rival and enemy. He once convinced me, years ago, to shut down my lab and give up science. But thankfully, I snapped out of that and got him back pretty good! Ever since that day, we've been stuck in a constant battle of good and evil!"

"No, I did that because you made fun of me when we first met, and when we met again, years later, you didn't even remember me! I've been constantly bettering my lab to one day destroy you for good, Dexter! But fate will see to it that today is that very day! The day of reckoning! Ha, haha! Ha, haha, haha!"

"Go! Get to the switch!" shouted Dexter, "I trust that you'll know it when you see it! Mandark is mine!"

He then pressed a button on his watch and jumped high up into the air with his power-suit, where he was suddenly snatched up by another giant robot that landed right behind Mandark.

Both of their robots somewhat resembled them.

Dexter's fighting robot, which he called the Robo-Dexo 2000, was much shorter and stockier than its opponent. It had black limbs and feet, a white torso, purple hands and forearms, and looked to be wearing sun-shades.

Mandark's robot was tall, thin, and had a more rounded aesthetic, compared to Dexter's blocky robot. It had a gray and red color scheme, crab-claws instead of fists, and also looked like it was wearing glasses.

Mandark jumped back into his machine and turned to face Dexter.

They stared each other down for a moment, waiting for the other to make the first move.

Finally, Mandark took a swing, but missed and paid for it with a series of purple fists.

"Ah! Damn you, Dexter!" he roared, coming back with a flurry of blows that made Dexter back off, momentarily.

Dexter quickly closed the distance and gave another furious combo of punches to the enemy robot's torso, prompting Mandark to fight back furiously, exchanging strike after strike with Dexter.

They suddenly jumped back from each other, knowing that at any moment, either one could have gained the upper hand.

"Mandark! Why did you join the Fallen Hand?!" asked Dexter, dropping into a defensive fighting-stance.

Despite being a nerdy, scientific genius, Dexter was also a skilled, formidable and knowledgeable combatant, both in and out of his machines, and with or without melee or ranged weapons.

Mandark laughed in his usual manner again.

"They say that you develop the qualities of your closest friends, right, Dexter? Well, I figured that if I'm going to become the conqueror of this universe, I'd better surround myself with other universal conquerors as well!"

Dexter grew disgusted and launched his robot into a flying kick that knocked Mandark onto the ground, consequently smashing apart many of his own inventions.

_Oh no, my machines! I must defeat him quickly or my lab will be in ruins._

Dexter rushed him as he was getting up but was knocked back by a well-placed kick, landing on his back.

Mandark towered over him as he tried to get up, and stepped on his shoulder to keep him down.

"I'm not going to destroy you yet, Dexter! No, I'm going to allow you the shame of witnessing the downfall of your precious laboratory! All of your data! All of your research! Everything will be mine! All mine!"

Dexter quickly engaged his Pez-Missiles, which made his robot's neck extend, just as a pez-dispenser, revealing a line of missiles, and fired them.

Mandark leaned to the side, completely avoiding them and continued laughing, but the missiles hit the ceiling, causing a large explosion, and unbeknownst to him, large pieces of it began falling down.

Dexter quickly turned on the rocket boosters that were under his robot's feet, and escaped Mandark's hold.

"What the-?!" yelled Mandark, about to run after him.

But it was too late.

Before he took even one step, he was buried under a massive pile of metal.

Dexter stood up and gasped at what he saw. He couldn't help but feel a twinge of pity for his fallen foe.

"Farewell, Mandark," he said, saluting towards the pile of scrap-metal, "You were a worthy rival."

He turned to leave, but was suddenly hit by a tornado and was launched into the air.

"What in blazes is going on?!" yelled Dexter, confused and fighting to regain control of his machine.

The robot finally hit the ground, making Dexter smack his head on the controls, knocking him out.

Just before he completely lost consciousness, he saw the tornado heading east.

* * *

"There it is!" yelled Numbuh 2, looking through a pair of binoculars while pointing at a red switch located atop the main energy reactor.

"Stop here!" said Jack.

When they had slowed down, he quickly jumped out and swiftly sprinted the remaining distance over to the reactor. As soon as he neared its base, he jumped and flew dozens of feet up into the air before he finally touched the reactor's surface, which he then kicked off of, going onto a parallel structure. Then, as soon as he made contact, he jumped back toward the reactor, finally landing at the top.

He ran to the switch and took a hold of it, but out of nowhere, a powerful gust of wind knocked him off of the tall structure.

"What just happened?!" shouted Numbuh 4 in disbelief, tugging at his own hair.

"Somebody catch him!" yelled Double D, panicking.

Numbuhs 1 and 4 jumped out and ran towards the base of the reactor.

"Why didn't they just take the buggies?" asked Eddy, face-palming.

"We'll never make it in time!" panted Numbuh 4, struggling to keep up with his teammate.

"What were we thinking, Numbuh 4! We should have just driven the buggies! Too late now, run faster!" commanded Numbuh 1, picking up speed.

"Easier said than done, mate!" wheezed Numbuh 4, pumping his legs even harder than he thought possible.

But as soon as they reached the base, Jack kicked off of the reactor, arcing out onto the top of a nearby structure, and rolled to lessen the impact when he landed.

"Jack! What was that?!" yelled Numbuh 1, concerned.

"Get back to the others! It's him!" replied Jack, waving them away.

A small tornado began forming at the top of the lab and slowly extended down to the ground.

Jack jumped down and unsheathed his katana just as the tip of the tornado made contact with the ground, vanishing and revealing a tall, masked figure in familiar black garb and golden armor.

"Mandark failed. It's a good thing that I decided to come along as well," he said.

Jack rushed him and swung his blade, but the Sky Vanguard just blocked it with his own, locking blades with him.

It was a long, straight-edged, white blade –an Ilumari Greatsword, and one that Numbuh 1 recognized well.

Numbuh 1 pulled out his Chinese Dadao and charged at the Vanguard, making him break the blade-lock with Jack and jump back thirty feet to put distance in between them.

"It was you! You were the assassin that killed Numbuh 1-Trillion! That was his sword!" roared Numbuh 1, furious.

"Congratulations on figuring it out," he replied, "Too bad that you won't live to tell Numbuh 529 about it!"

He lifted his blade and air-propelled himself towards Numbuh 1 at a great speed, but Jack, equally fast, put himself in between them, holding off his powerful attack.

"Go!" he stammered, "Hurry!"

Numbuh 1 nodded and ran back towards the reactor.

Jack managed to push his opponent off and swung his blade multiple times, but to no avail, for his enemy somehow managed to block every slash.

Jack finally swung as hard as he could and managed to knock his opponent's sword out of the way to deliver a finishing blow, but the Vanguard swiftly dodged by bending backward and countered with a downward slash that forced Jack to jump back a few feet.

"You truly are a fearsome foe, Samurai, but not for long!"

The Sky Vanguard then spun around at an incredible speed, making another tornado, and set it after Jack, who struggled to outrun and avoid it, for the Vanguard had complete control over it.

Jack ran into a cluster of machinery in an effort to lose it, but it still found it's way to him and knocked over the structure which he was hiding behind.

"It's no use, Samurai! Die as a warrior –not as a coward!"

Jack had had enough of this and ran toward the Vanguard with his blade behind him, ready for a charging side-slash.

"You damned fool!" barked the Vanguard, canceling the tornado and putting his greatsword in a vertical, downward blocking position at the last moment just as Jack struck, causing a large, blinding, fountain of bright sparks to fly out everywhere.

Jack was suddenly gone.

"How?!" yelled the Vanguard, suddenly sensing Jack behind him. He tried to turn in time to block his attack, but ended up getting slashed diagonally across his back.

"Agh!" he screamed as the force of the slash sent him flying forward. He quickly vaulted over on his hands, turned in mid-air, and landed back on his feet, facing Jack.

But the damage was done.

He fell onto one knee as the pain in his back worsened. _If I didn't have this armor, I would have surely perished! _He thought, filling with pure rage.

"Damn you, Samurai! You're a dead man!" he yelled, trying and failing to stand.

Jack sheathed his sword and walked away.

"Leave now. I have no desire to kill you."

"You have no desire to kill _me_?!" screamed the Vanguard, confused, "Even after I tried to kill your friend?! What a fool! I don't know what my master saw in you!"

"Leave!" commanded Jack, turning around to face him again.

"No! I'm going to give you a reason to _want_ to kill me!"

He then turned to look at the others, looking for an easy target.

"Ah ha! _You two._"

He then pointed both of his fists at Ed and Double D, and fired jet streams of highly concentrated air.

"No!" cried Jack, who ran back to the Vanguard and launched into a flying kick that knocked him senseless.

But, it was no use.

The streams continued on their way, but before they made contact, Eddy launched himself in front of them –taking them both!

"Eddy!" screamed both Ed and Double D in panic as he landed beside the buggy, unmoving and in a small puddle of blood.

"Help me! Please, someone, help me!" cried Double D, standing over his fallen friend.

Eddy suddenly stirred a bit, much to Double D's relief.

"He's alive!" he cried with tears of joy.

"Damn!" said the Sky Vanguard, "Two of my air-fists and he's _still_ alive! That gash on my back must have taken quite a bit out of me." He coughed up blood as he turned over, only to find Jack standing over him –with his sword unsheathed.

"Yes! Finish it, Samurai! Become _just_ like me! This is _nothing_ compared to what my master would do to me if he knew that I failed!"

Jack closed his eyes, and was about to bring his sword down, when a sudden explosion behind him knocked him across the floor.

"Ha, haha! Ha, haha, haha! Dexter was a fool to believe that he could best me!" laughed Mandark from within his robot.

"Dexter lost?!" cried Numbuhs 2 and 4 in disbelief.

Mandark reached down and scooped up the now-unconscious Sky Vanguard and put him within the robot.

"Indeed! My rival has finally fallen!"

* * *

Numbuh 1 climbed a long ladder up towards the top of the energy reactor. He made it onto a resting spot at the half-way point, when his arm was unexpectedly grabbed and yanked by a metal hand, knocking him to the ground. He looked at his attacker and saw a large, bulky robot, standing twenty feet away. It had stretched its arm out, holding him in place.

"I'm afraid that I cannot allow you to shut me down, Mr. Uno," said a speaker on the robot's stomach, "My data transfer is not yet complete!"

It then threw him off of the tower, but Numbuh 1 anticipated the impact and rolled at the last moment. He looked back up at the robot, which seemed content to just sit there, keeping watch in case he tried to climb back up.

Numbuh 1 grew angry and was about to go back up when he heard a voice behind him.

"Wait!"

Numbuh 1 turned around and saw Dexter running in his busted-up Dexo-Transformer power-suit which finally ran out of power and toppled over, just a short distance from him.

Dexter quickly got off of it and looked around on the floor.

He appeared to be pretty broken-up and injured, himself.

"Um, Dexter, are you okay? You're bleeding, man!" cried Numbuh 1, running over to him.

Dexter ignored that and continued his search.

"My Tesla Hand-Cannon! I just know that I dropped it around here the last time that I used it!"

"What are you planning to do? Why can't we just destroy the reactor with your giant robot? I'm sure that you can fix it afterward!" asked Numbuh 1.

"If we destroy it, it will simply detonate! I have it rigged as an emergency bomb! No, I'm going to do the unthinkable and overload it again. It's the only way to stop that _Smith_ virus! You see, if we just shut down my reactor, we'll still have to look for wherever Mandark plugged in that virus. But by overloading it, we're sure to fry whatever device it's coming from, so help me look for the Hand-Cannon! It looks like a highly-advanced handgun!"

Numbuh 1 nodded and looked around on the floor and the nearby machinery.

"Is this it?" he asked, showing an object that matched the description to Dexter.

"Yes! Give it here!"

Numbuh 1 tossed it to him, but it was unexpectedly intercepted by one of Dexter's flying robots.

"No!" cried Dexter, falling onto his knees, dramatically.

Out of nowhere, Dee Dee showed up and pranced over to them.

"Um, Dexter, who is this?" asked Numbuh 1, puzzled.

Dexter opened his eyes and noticed her.

"Dee Dee! What are you doing in here?!"

"It sounded like a party was going on, and I thought, 'why wasn't I invited?' so I showed up anyways," she said, continuing her ballet.

"Why would I hold a party in my _super-secret _laboratory, woman?!" yelled Dexter.

"I don't know, that's what _I_ wanted to know, too!"

Suddenly, an explosion was heard where the others were, followed by the appearance of Mandark's robot.

"Mandark survived?!" cried Dexter, shocked, "I must stop him! Oh, but I must also get my device back!"

An idea suddenly occurred to him.

"Dee Dee, do not dance all over of my flying robots, and do not bring me my Tesla Hand-Cannon!"

"Okay!" she said, standing still.

After a short moment, she began twitching impulsively and ran off into the distance, climbing and dancing all over the machinery, and finally jumped onto a swarm of flying robots that flew off into the distance, from which the sounds of destruction were soon heard.

"Quite ingenious," commented Numbuh 1.

"I know," replied Dexter, smiling, "Well now that that's taken care of, I'll handle Mandark!"

Dexter then pressed the same button on his watch and waited as his Robo-Dexo 2000 came running over, stopping right in front of them. Its right foot opened up, revealing the entrance.

Dexter ran into it, and was soon in the operator's seat.

"Hey, Mandark!" he called out, "Ready for another beating?"

Mandark's robot turned around to face him, giving the others a chance to flee the battleground.

"Dexter? I thought that the Sky Vanguard finished you off!"

"Was _that_ who hit me with a tornado?!" asked Dexter, curious.

"Never mind that! Prepare to die!" shouted Mandark, charging at him.

Dexter anticipated this and rolled onto his back, simultaneously putting one of his feet out, and launched his opponent over himself.

Mandark immediately engaged his back-boosters, and was on his feet again.

"Ha, haha! You'll have to do better than _that_, Dexter!"

He then shot a line of missiles out of his arm, forcing Dexter to release all of his flares in order to draw them away, resulting in various scattered explosions up in the air.

"That was a lot of flares! I'm going to go out on a limb here, and say . . . you're out!" laughed Mandark, shooting another one.

Dexter reacted immediately and put his arm out, launching a missile of his own.

The explosive projectiles hit head-on and knocked them both onto the floor.

Mandark, though dazed, stood up first and ran over to try to pin his rival down again, but Dexter, once again anticipating his opponent's move, engaged his own back-boosters when he was within range. As soon as he was level with his rival's chest, he kicked out with both feet and knocked Mandark onto the floor again.

This time, it was Dexter who pinned Mandark down and pointed his arm's missile launcher at him.

"Step out of your robot, Mandark! I won't hesitate to fire if you refuse!"

His foe remained silent.

"One . . . two . . ." counted Dexter, hovering a finger over the missile trigger.

"Dexter! Dexter! I have it!" yelled Dee Dee from below.

"Really?!" exclaimed Dexter, turning to look at her.

Mandark took advantage of his opponent's brief distraction and swung his substantially longer arm, clobbering Dexter with one of his metal crab-claws.

Dexter stumbled back a few feet, which gave Mandark just enough time to stand and give him plenty of heavy strikes.

Dexter struggled to regain his footing and countered with a powerful, straight punch that stumbled his rival. He then charged and pushed him against the wall of his power facility, holding him in place as best as he could.

"Dee Dee! You have to get behind cover and fire at the reactor! Hurry!" he shouted, struggling to keep Mandark pressed up against the wall.

"Um . . . You sure? Don't you remember what happened last time?!" said Dee Dee, worried.

"Dee Dee! My love! Don't do it!" pleaded Mandark, struggling to push Dexter off of him.

"Just give it to me!" yelled Numbuh 1, grabbing it from her.

"So this is how it ends, eh, Mr. Dexter?" said Smith, "You may have stopped me this time, but I'll be back. Just you wait."

"Now! Take cover!" strained Dexter.

Numbuh 1 grabbed Dee Dee's hand and ran over to one of the buggies. Once inside, he took aim and fired.

The reactor instantly overloaded with energy, causing bolts of electricity to shoot out everywhere, surging through almost every piece of machinery in the lab, including both the Robo-Dexo 2000 and Mandark's robot, shocking their pilots as well.

After what seemed like a minute, the surge stopped and all power finally went out, plunging the laboratory into darkness.

Dexter's emergency generators kicked in immediately, and a female voice was soon heard.

"Laboratory reboot initiated . . . running systems check."

"Is everyone okay?! Kuki, are you hurt?!" asked Numbuh 4 to the others.

"I'm okay, Wally," said Numbuh 3, giving him a big, reassuring kiss.

"Ed and I are fine as well," responded Double D, "But we still need to find a hospital for Eddy as soon as possible!"

Meanwhile, Numbuh 1 ran over to the fallen Robo-Dexo 2000 and jumped onto its head. He then started stomping down on it.

"Dexter! Are you alright?! Wake up, man!"

Dexter finally came to, and opened up the hatch to climb out.

"Where's Mandark?" he asked, still dazed.

"Mandark retreated. He knew that he'd been beaten. Besides that, his robot was also barely functioning."

Dexter suddenly grew alarmed and yelled out.

"Computer, _my love_, are you okay?!"

"Yes, Dexter. I am," responded his computer.

Dexter sighed with relief and sat down to rest.

"I can't believe that they almost got all of my research! I really am going to have to shut my lab down and take all of my research archives with me. I'll upload them to the ship and delete them from here before we leave."

"Sounds good. I can't imagine what they were after," said Numbuh 1.

"They were definitely after my research on the Quantum Devourers. You see, I've discovered that they're not like any other life-form in existence. They're drastically different, somehow, and I think that the Fallen Hand got wind of my research and wanted to take it from me before I discovered what they really were, along with everything else that might prove useful to them. I assume they also wanted to kill me to ensure that I didn't aid you or continue my endeavors."

"I see. Well, it's a good thing that we showed up when we did," said Numbuh 1.

Dexter nodded in response as he looked around at his lab with a somber look on his face.

"Are you alright?" asked Numbuh 1.

"I never thought that I would shut my lab down again –or even have to leave it behind, for that matter! It's just difficult to accept, but I know that I must. It's my duty!"

Numbuh 1 understood. It was the same way that he had felt when he left the Kids Next Door to join the RND.

They turned to look as one of the buggies drove up to them. As soon as it stopped, Jack and Numbuh 4 stepped out of it.

"Hey, we should really get going! Eddy's barely holdin' on, mate!"

Both Dexter and Numbuh 1 grew alarmed.

"What happened?!" yelled Numbuh 1.

"That masked-asshole shot some sort of air-bullets or something at Ed and Double D, but Eddy jumped in front of them and took 'em both! It was one of the most badass things that I've ever seen!"

Numbuh 3 punched him in the shoulder.

"Ow! I meant to say that it was one of the _bravest_ things that I've ever seen!"

"Indeed," said Jack, "he is truly a hero."

Numbuh 1 ran over to the Eds and found them sulking around Eddy, who was unconscious.

"Oh my God . . . how is he?" he asked, afraid of the answer.

"He's alive. That's about it," said Double D, grimly.

Ed just whimpered with teary eyes.

"I may be of some assistance," said Dexter.

Double D looked up with wide eyes.

"Really?" he asked.

"Well, I'm afraid that I'm no doctor, but within the new ship, I built a medical room for any members of our party that become injured."

"Oh, thank you! Thank you, Dexter! You truly are a genius!" said Double D, crying tears of joy.

"Um, thanks, and, no problem," responded Dexter, smiling modestly.

They all got into the buggies and headed for the new ship.

It was much bigger than the old ship, and was of a much sleeker design as well.

"Welcome to our new headquarters! Dimensional Ship Esperanza!" said Dexter, "It's essentially the same as the old ship, but with upgrades to everything, most notably, to the recreation and training rooms, as well as now having twenty living quarters, all fit for three to four people each. I'm guessing that our little band of freedom fighters is going to grow quite a bit in the near future. Also, I made some additions, such as the medical ward, a few containment cells, and, of course, a small laboratory containing only my most required inventions."

"Very impressive, Dexter. You've outdone yourself, exceptionally," said Numbuh 1.

"Once again, thank you. Now, shall I show you the medical room?"

They headed up onto the top floor of the ship and entered the room where Double D immediately cleaned and wrapped Eddy's wounds. He then had Jack place him onto one of the various beds.

Afterward, they all (minus Double D, who stayed with Eddy) went back to the old ship and brought all supplies, weapons, gear, and all of their belongings to the new ship.

Dexter immediately transferred all of his archives into the ship, as well as his computer's AI, and immediately deleted any trace of them.

He then reluctantly shut down the lab and decided to leave a video recording, explaining the reason for his hopefully-temporary absence.

He wrote _For Mom and Dad _on it, and as soon as he went into his room to leave it on his bed, he found Dee Dee waiting.

"So it looks like you're leaving, huh, Dexter?" she said.

"Yes, Dee Dee, I am."

"Then I'm going too."

"Absolutely not! You're going to be constantly breaking my mini-laboratory!"

"I promise that I won't! Please, Dexter, I wanna go!"

Dexter thought for a moment.

"Please?" she said, making puppy eyes.

Dexter finally caved-in to her demand.

"Fine, but you better not cause any trouble for us, do you hear me, Woman?!"

"Yay! Thank you, thank you!" she then picked him up and gave him a big kiss on the cheek.

"Okay! Put me down!" he yelled.

After quickly packing, they headed back to the ship and finally launched toward their next destination.

* * *

(Cue ending theme: Maon Kurosaki - "Return to Destiny" - 00:00 to 01:22)

**To Be Continued . . .**

**Next Episode: Straw Hats and Jolly Rogers**


	7. Straw Hats and Jolly Rogers

(I don't own any of these properties. This is purely a non-profit, fan-made project! All rights go to their creators and affiliates)

* * *

Author's Note: It's finally here! **One Piece**. It's a name that I'm sure that most of you know. For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, it's a **behemoth, powerhouse** of an anime series, and I **strongly** recommend that you check it out.

Whether in manga or anime form, just get some One Piece in you.

Anyway, don't worry, fellow super-fans, for I will be staying true to the spirit of this fanfiction by also staying true to the current canon of the series, and thus, won't be making up some weird, past timeline that never occurred in the series. Sorry fellow Ace fans, but that means that he'll still be . . . you know . . . gone. I'm also well aware that the series hasn't ended, and doesn't plan on ending anytime soon, so since there's no way to continue a canon that hasn't ended, I've decided to just pick up the story from sometime after the last completed story arc, which at the time of this writing was the Punk Hazard-arc. When the currently ongoing Dressrosa-arc is finished, I'll make appropriate, non-gratuitous references to it within my story, giving the illusion that it has already occurred in the past. Ta-Da! Artificial canon-continuation gen-jutsu! Other than that, being my fan-fic, I've obviously decided to take the story in my own direction from there. Finally, those of you who are already familiar with the Straw-Hat Pirates can go ahead and skip the part where I start to individually introduce them, as it's a bit lengthy, but there to introduce and familiarize potential new fans with each member. Though if you want to read it, that's fine too! It took _forever_ to carefully write all that out!

Also, new opening/ending theme song! (See the update on Ep. 1 in case you skipped it.)

Now, enjoy and don't forget to review! Thank you all so much for reading!

* * *

Previously on Codename: Warriors Next Dimension: The Sky Vanguard appeared to Mandark, Dexter's arch-rival, and recruited him into the Fallen Hand.

Meanwhile, the Warriors Next Dimension finally arrived to Dexter's world to recruit him as well, which he immediately accepted.

Upon arrival to his lab, Dexter explained his history with the RND and the Fallen Hand, but his lab was then suddenly attacked by Mandark, who had uploaded a mysterious, sentient virus that called itself "Smith" into his computer systems, taking over his lab. The virus planned to transfer all of Dexter's research over to the Fallen Hand, and then delete it.

Dexter revealed that the only chance that they had for victory was to shut down his lab via the main energy reactor.

It then came down to Dexter vs. Mandark, and Samurai Jack vs. The Sky Vanguard, after which both Dexter and Jack emerged victorious, but not before the Sky Vanguard fired a dual attack at both Double D and Ed in an attempt to incite hatred and murderous contempt from Jack. But Eddy jumped in the way and shielded them, getting severely wounded in the process.

Dexter then ordered Numbuh 1 to overload his reactor with the Tesla Hand-Cannon in order to fry the virus, which was successful.

After the battle, Mandark retreated and took the severely wounded and unconscious Vanguard with him. Dexter then showed them to their newly constructed headquarters to treat Eddy's wounds in the ship's medical room.

Finally, before leaving, he left a recorded message for his parents and, reluctantly allowing Dee Dee to come along, joined the Warriors Next Dimension on their continuing mission.

* * *

(Cue opening theme: Stratovarius - "Deep Unknown" - 00:00 to 01:52)

**Codename: Warriors Next Dimension**

**Season 1: Quantum Genesis – Episode 7: Straw Hats and Jolly Rogers**

(Banquet Hall, Dimensional Ship Esperanza)

Samurai Jack, Numbuhs 1-4, Dexter, Double D, and Ed all ate in silence, except for Dee Dee, who hummed as she ate, and thus, was really starting to get on Dexter's nerves.

The only sounds that emanated from everyone else was the sound of their silverware tapping and scraping their plates as they dined upon Jack and Numbuh 3's collaborated Japanese meal. They had both prepared it out of the ingredients that Dexter had stockpiled within the food storage room and freezer.

Despite the meal itself being very delicious and everyone enjoying each other's company, the atmosphere in the room lacked something.

That something was Eddy.

It had only been one day since the battle in Dexter's laboratory, so Eddy was still in the medical room, recovering from his devastatingly near-fatal wounds. But what worried everyone the most was that he had recently slipped into a coma-like state.

Double D was the first one to finish his meal, even though he wasn't all that hungry. Really he just didn't want to seem disrespectful towards Jack and Numbuh 3, though, he did think the meal was delicious. After quickly cleaning up his dining area, he thanked them for the meal and excused himself, immediately going over to the medical room to check up on Eddy.

Ed soon followed, though only after wolfing down the rest of his meal, and left without saying a word. He had planned on asking for seconds, but decided that it would have to wait.

Dexter finally snapped as his sister's humming reached a crescendo.

"Dee Dee! Will you _please_ shut up?! This is not the time to be humming, woman!"

Dee Dee ignored him and continued humming.

"Poor guys," said Numbuh 2, "They're taking it pretty hard."

"They're not used to it like we are," responded Numbuh 1.

"None of us ever got hurt _that_ badly, though," said Numbuh 2, taking another bite of his food.

"I guess you're right," said Numbuh 1, "but all of us have come close to losing our lives in a past battle."

"So I heard that Dexter, here, finally decoded that file for us, right?" asked Numbuh 4, trying to lighten the mood, "Have you decided on who you're gonna recruit next, mate? Can I take a look?"

"Not yet," said Dexter, mildly embarrassed, "I'm afraid that I have yet to finish. My knowledge on the ancient Ilumari alphabet is a little rusty, and I seem to have misplaced the original file somewhere within my databases."

Numbuhs 1 and 2 perked up with curiosity.

"Wait, those symbols were from the Ilumari language?" asked Numbuh 1, bewildered.

"In a way," answered Dexter, "though just as I mentioned, they were from their _ancient_ alphabet –not their current one," he absent-mindedly began speaking in the same manner as a great professor, "You see, it was the perfect code, seeing as only a handful of Ilumari historians -and myself- know of it. Thus, if Surt were to ever get his hands on it, well, it would just be gibberish to him!"

"I see," said Numbuh 1.

Dexter just smiled and nodded proudly.

"But, what if he had captured one of those historians to read it for him?" asked Numbuh 2.

"It would have been in vain! I switched each symbol with another corresponding symbol. He would have been getting the wrong coordinates and names each time!"

"Very clever," said Numbuh 1, impressed. Then he remembered something, "Wait, so if you know some of the Ilumari language, what does _Numbuh_ mean? Numbuh 1-Trillion told me once that it was actually a word of the Ilumari, but he never got the chance to tell me exactly what it meant."

"I've been wondering that too!" said Numbuh 2, "Because the RND were supposed to be some super-serious organization, right? So then, why did they still use what was obviously our kid-friendly way of saying 'number'?"

"Well," said Dexter, pausing for a moment, "it is no coincidence that despite sounding like the word 'number' just as you pointed out, it's actually the Ilumari word for _warrior._"

"Awesome!" yelled Numbuh 4, throwing some punches into the air, "I say it's been suiting us pretty well!"

Numbuh 1 was filled with understanding as well. Never had he been more proud of the title he carried.

The room suddenly filled with light and shadow as a familiar yellow and purple temporary portal opened up near Dexter.

Everyone, minus him, jumped out of their seats and pointed a weapon at it, but Dexter calmly waved them to stand down.

"How are you, Lieutenant Sa'rai?" said Dexter, not even looking in her direction.

"I've definitely been better. How did you know it was me, short-stuff?" responded the young, blonde-haired, brown-skinned Ilumari.

"I've been expecting you. But mostly, I never forget a good woman's perfume," he said, flirtatiously.

Her cheeks flushed as she replied, "Idiot. Anyway, I've come with some really bad news."

"Just a moment, Lieutenant, how about a proper introduction, first?" he said, waving the others over, "Everyone, this is Lieutenant Sa'rai of the Barrier Defense Force. Her organization was one of the RND's biggest allies, and now, they're our allies. And just in case you're wondering, she knew where I was because earlier, I filed a report on the skirmish in my lab."

Everyone happily greeted her and introduced themselves in turn, until she finally came to Numbuh 1.

"Wait . . . you're Numbuh 1?" she asked.

"That's me," he responded, "I've actually met one of your fellow members before. I believe his name was . . . Ikaan. He was a big help during the Anti-Spiral Wars."

"Oh yes, Ikaan," she said, "he's a loose cannon, that one -always taking things too far. Anyway, I know you from Numbuh 529's stories! You're his pride and joy!"

"You know Salvador?" he asked.

"Salvador? I thought his name was Alejandro! . . . isn't it?"

Numbuh 1 was suddenly confused.

_Why would he go by two names within the RND?_ He thought intensely. This was going to bother him, but he decided to just ask him when next they talked.

"Well it was a pleasure meeting you. It's always a pleasure to meet a friend of Numbuh 529," he said, bowing to her in the traditional Ilumari way.

She bowed back and replied, "The pleasure's all mine." She then went dead-serious as she turned back towards Dexter.

"Seriously, Dex, I have some horrible news. We're definitely in some major trouble."

"Just how bad could it possibly be, Lieutenant?" asked Dexter, continuing his meal.

"Oh, I don't know!" she said in a cutesy, super-girly voice, "You tell me!"

She then tossed a folder onto the table, which Dexter promptly grabbed.

"That's a report from our spies within the Fallen Hand. Apparently, Smith's little data transfer party-trick didn't need to finish in order to give them what they wanted!"

Dexter read through the first few pages of the report and turned bone-white.

"No . . ." he stammered.

"That's right! He specifically targeted your files on the RND, first! The only consolation is that he didn't get all of them, but what he did get was a few top priority files, chief among them being your special project!"

"Dexter, what is she talking about?" asked Numbuh 1, worriedly.

"They got it," said Dexter with a devastated look, holding his head in his hands.

"They got your research on the Quantum Devourers?"

"I actually wish that they had gotten that instead. Numbuh 1, I'm so sorry," whimpered Dexter, "but they got the original, non-encoded version of the file that you're having me decode! Ugh, Of course I couldn't find it in my archives! That bastard virus deleted it as soon as he gave it to them!"

Numbuh 1 couldn't believe his ears, and took a seat as he felt all strength leave him, as did Numbuh 2 as well.

"That's not all, Dexter. They've chosen their first targets," said Sa'rai.

Dexter flipped through the folder some more and found what she mentioned.

"They're going after a group of 'A' and 'S'-class beings!" he shouted, in terror.

"Dexter, can you explain it to the others?" said Numbuh 1 as everyone else took their seats again, "I would myself, but I'm not familiar with the S-class."

"Ah yes, you see, all beings in the Multi-Verse are ranked according to their battle-strengths and abilities by the Ilumari Royal Military, who are also our allies, by the way. The rankings can go from D to S or even SS. There is also an X-class, but nobody messes with those, -not even the Fallen Hand." He cleared his throat before continuing, "D-class beings are normal people. C-class beings are expert martial artists or highly armed and trained weapons users. B-class beings are martial arts masters or armed, weapons masters. A-class beings have the skills and power to devastate entire armies by themselves. S-class beings are what we would consider as beyond superhuman. SS-class beings can easily fight multiple A or even several S-class beings at once . . . and X-class . . . don't even get me started on X-class!"

Everybody's jaws were wide open in bewilderment. Even Numbuh 1, for he had no idea that there were mortal beings that powerful.

"To further put this into perspective for you all, the Eds were once D-class. They've since pushed their ranking to C-class by training with Jack. This is also where Numbuhs 2, 3, and 4 are. Numbuh 1 and Lieutenant Sa'rai are B-class, as well as Mandark and I due to the robots and weapons that we use in battle, which are also taken into account. Finally, Jack, Numbuh 529, and the Sky Vanguard are A-Class, while Warmaster Surt is SS-class."

Again, everyone was astonished, except for Numbuh 4 who looked angry.

"What?! I'm obviously an A-class!" he pouted.

Everyone busted out laughing.

"What? I am!"

"So they're going after these . . . _Straw Hat Pirates_, right?" said Dexter, holding up some pictures from the folder.

"Correct. They're very valuable potential allies, so please do all that you must to stop the Fallen Hand. Let's hope that you're not too late."

"We will," said Numbuh 1, "but I must first contact Numbuh 5 to let her in on our current situation."

"Very well," she responded, "Goodbye for now."

* * *

(Technoasis Island, the New World of the Grand Line)

The sun was rising and reflected brightly over the ocean waves as the infamous group known as the Straw Hat Pirates docked on the pier of a brand new island.

They had recently received an invite through mysterious means to attend a series of nightly festivals at a technologically advanced amusement park called Thrash Rocket Park, as it was celebrating its first anniversary. The invite also said that as VIPs, they would have an all-expenses paid stay for the whole week at a five-star hotel, and ended with the phrase: "Adventure and fortune await you . . ."

Other than that, they had also received a letter from one of their good friends, telling them to come to the island for urgent matters.

The only things that was visible on the island were some tall hills and an impossibly tall tower that held a massive, spherical construct that sort of resembled the moon.

Out of curiosity (as well as the constant begging of certain crew members) they decided to cautiously check it out.

"This is so cool! I can't wait! I hope that it's even better than Sabaody Park!" exclaimed a young man with a straw hat from atop the mast of his ship, which was known as the Thousand Sunny.

On its sails, there was a large image of a smiling Jolly Roger wearing the very same straw hat.

"I can't wait to see Jimbei, again!" he said, happily referring to the friend that had sent them the letter.

The man was Monkey D. Luffy.

Besides him, the Straw Hat Pirates consisted of Roronoa Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Tony Tony Chopper, Nico Robin, Franky, and Brook.

First off, Luffy was the 19 year-old captain. He was a martial artist with inhuman levels of skill, strength, speed, and stamina. Over the course of the past three years, Luffy had been making a name for himself all over the world as a fearsome pirate captain, even though he and his crew never actually did anything truly pirate-like such as pillaging towns, stealing treasure, or killing innocent people and even enemies. No, his and the crew's reputations for being powerful badasses came more from constantly evading and escaping from the Marines, who were the Navy-like world-wide military that enforced the law, and from constantly defeating other powerful, rival pirate crews and villains that were previously considered unbeatable. All of this was due to Luffy's lifelong dream to sail the entirety of the Grand Line (his planet's craziest and most dangerous ocean) in order to find the legendary treasure "One Piece" which belonged to the former Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, in order to become the new Pirate King.

Besides being pretty dumb, he was laid-back, care-free, goofy, immature, and reckless, though when facing a serious situation, he could become very serious, surprisingly intelligent and strategic, and extremely strong-willed. He was also a very caring, and kind friend, often becoming infuriated if someone hurt any of his friends in any way, and often went to great lengths to protect them, even putting his own life on the line if needed. He was also a gluttonous eater who could eat impossible amounts of food and still be constantly hungry.

He came to be known as "Straw Hat" Luffy because of his trademark brimmed straw hat with red ribbon around its circumference that he always wore, for he considered it his greatest treasure and hardly ever parted with it unless he thought that it was in danger. It was given to him by "Red-Haired" Shanks, the man that inspired him to become a pirate, as well as one of the Four Pirate Emperors, who were the four strongest pirates in the world, and actually originally belonged to Gol D. Roger long ago before he himself passed it on to Shanks.

Though he was skinny, Luffy was actually very muscular. He was of average height, at 5'8.5'', had light-tan skin, short, spiky, jet-black hair, and always wore a red, long-sleeved, cardigan shirt that was unbuttoned, showing off the "X" shaped scar across his chest, a pair of blue jean-shorts that ended below his knees, a long, yellow sash that was tied around his waist like a belt, and a pair of sandals. He also had a small scar with two stitches underneath his left eye from when he cut himself with a knife as a young boy to prove to Shanks that he was tough.

But perhaps Luffy's strangest feature was the fact that his body was made of rubber, which gave him the ability to stretch his body and limbs to extreme proportions. This was due to having eaten the Gum-Gum Devil Fruit when he was young. Devil Fruits were mysterious, ultra-rare fruits that gave their eater a special power, but in exchange for their ability to swim in the ocean, for it drains their strength and life away if they happen to fall into it. Despite this, his ability has greatly aided and enhanced his fighting skills and helped him survive many situations that would've surely killed any normal human. His fighting skill and powers have only gotten insanely stronger after the two year period that his crew was separated, during which, they all went through intense training in order to prepare themselves for their journey into the New World, which was the second and most dangerous half of the Grand Line.

Next, Roronoa Zoro was the 21 year-old First-Mate, and master swordsman with equally inhuman levels of strength, speed, and stamina. Known as the Great Pirate Hunter, he is largely considered the second most powerful and dangerous member of the crew, after Luffy, which was more evident given that, while Luffy always fought the strongest enemy, Zoro always fought the second strongest. Since he was young, he had been developing his own unique sword-fighting style known as _Santoryu_ (Three-Sword Style) in which he fought with a sword in each hand, as well as a third by biting down and holding onto its handle sideways in his mouth. His lifelong goal was to become the world's greatest swordsman in order to fulfill a promise that he made to his deceased, childhood-friend, Kuina.

Besides being the first member to join Luffy, he has also become a very close friend, even to the point of having been willing to sacrifice his own life for his captain.

His personality was very serious, stern, and distanced, though he has been known to have a mildly goofy side when he gets comically angry with his fellow crew-mates, or when he's playfully insulting his competitive rival and crewmate, Sanji. His hobbies usually included sleeping and drinking alcohol (mostly Sake).

He was a well-built, muscular man, and was also at an average height of 5'11'', had light-brown skin that was a darker than Luffy's, short, light-green hair that he kept slicked-back, three, small, gold earrings in his left ear, black trousers that were tucked into black boots, a long, dark-green, Japanese-style overcoat that was tied with a red sash around his waist, which he kept open over his chest, and only buttoned at his legs. Visible under where his coat was open was his green haramaki (a thick cloth worn around the belly, usually worn by samurai in the winter) and across his bare chest was the long, stitched scar that ran diagonally from his left shoulder down to his right hip. He kept his black bandanna tied around his left bicep, which he only tied around his head when fighting seriously against a really strong opponent. Being left-handed, he kept all three of his katana on his right-hip in order to draw them easily. Finally, his left eye had a vertical scar over it and was always kept closed. He had apparently sustained this injury through as-of-yet unknown means, sometime during his two years training with Dracule "Hawk-Eyes" Mihawk, one of the "Seven Warlords of the Sea" (more on them, later) and the man who currently held the title of "The World's Greatest Swordsman", and was also the one who gave Zoro the long scar across his chest and torso long before.

Third, Nami was the 20 year-old Navigator and Meteorologist of the crew. Since joining, she had been invaluable to the crew, being able to accurately predict any type of weather, as well as navigating them to their next island as well as out of dangerous situations. She was also a capable and intelligent fighter, combining her skills with a bo-staff with her knowledge of both weather and chemistry using her "Climatact", which was a staff-like weapon, created by Usopp, which allowed her to create different types of weather and attack with them. Her dream was to be the first person to map out the entire Grand Line, as well as all of the other oceans in the world.

Nami was a smart, compassionate, and caring woman, though she was usually prone to comical, violent outbursts when angered by the crew, and was very manipulative and greedy. She loved money as much as Zoro loved drinking, and would usually go to almost any length to get it. Despite this, friendship came first to her, and thus, she would never sell out a friend, no matter the price.

She was a normal-sized girl at just 5'6.5'', with a very nice hourglass figure. She was also considered by many to be very beautiful, and had light skin, reddish-orange eyes with large pupils, long, wavy, orange hair that extended down to her lower back, and very large, round breasts that were only accentuated by her outfit, which was usually a changing variable, but it was commonly just a green and white bikini halter top, tight, low-rider jeans, orange high-heeled sandals, and pearl-earrings. On her left wrist, she wore a gold bracelet that had been given to her by her sister Nojiko, and on her left shoulder, she had a blue tattoo of a symbol that stood for tangerines, which was the fruit that her deceased, adoptive-mother grew during Nami's childhood, as well as of pinwheels, in homage to her good friend Genzo, who was the mayor and sheriff of her home-village.

Fourth, Usopp was the 19 year-old Marksman of the crew. As an expert sniper with his trusty slingshot, as well as almost any other projectile weapon, Usopp had been useful when escaping Marine ships and when fighting range-based enemies. He was also a very capable inventor (as stated earlier, he was the one who created Nami's Climatact). His dream was to become a "brave warrior of the sea" as he put it.

During the two years that everyone was separated to train under different masters, Usopp probably changed the most as a person. Before then, he was a major coward who was easily frightened, anxious, insecure, and a compulsive liar that was constantly boasting about his supposed dangerous adventures and abilities in order to hide his insecurities. But now, thanks to his intense and dangerous training, he was much more confident in himself and no longer needed to lie (as much) because he was now able to back up his claims. On top of everything though, he was still a bit of a cautious coward, but not to such an extreme degree as before.

He also went through the most dramatic physical change. Before, he was an extremely scrawny teenager, but now, he had pumped himself up considerably and now actually looked manly. That being said, Usopp still had the world's longest and most cylindrical human nose. He had very long, curly, black hair in a bushy bunch on his upper back, a small, triangle-shaped goatee on his chin, large lips, and he was now always shirtless, wearing only a pair of three-quarter length, yellow pants with red suspenders, light-brown boots, and a white sun-cap. He also had some sort of orange earmuffs on his ears, and had a pair of red-tinted, orange sniping goggles around his neck. He also carried a red satchel where he stored his various types of slingshot ammunition and still wore his blue and white striped wrist-band on his left wrist.

Fifth, Sanji was the 21 year-old Ship Cook. Besides being a master chef, he was also one of the top three fighters in the group after Luffy and Zoro, being a very skilled martial artist as well (again, while Luffy and Zoro fought the two strongest enemies, Sanji always fought the third strongest). But unlike Luffy, he fought using only his legs, which he named the Black-Leg Style, and thus had superhumanly powerful kicks. He also utilized another style called Diable Jambe (Devil-Leg Style), in which his legs would ignite, allowing him to set his opponents on fire after delivering a devastatingly powerful kick. Surprisingly, this technique caused no harm to him or even his clothes unless he used it for too long or too often. He fought this way because ever since he was young, he had been taught that a chef's hands were sacred to them, and thus it would be disastrous if they were to get injured during a battle. Also, as a chef, his dream was to find the All-Blue, which was a mystical ocean, said to contain wildlife from every ocean in the world –a true chef's paradise.

He was usually serious like Zoro, being his competitive rival and all, but unlike him, he wasn't afraid to get silly and goofy at times. Also, like Zoro, he was quick to getting angry, but again, unlike him, it was to the point of even comically bursting into flames when he did so. He was also a huge perverted womanizer, getting super excited, as well as sustaining several nosebleeds when around any attractive woman. This earned him a plethora of funny nicknames from Zoro such as "Dumbass Cook", "Ero-Cook" (Perv-Cook) and "Nose-Bleed" just to name a few. He was also a heavy smoker, as he was almost always seen with a lit cigarette in his mouth, and almost always had his hands in his pockets due to his laid-back attitude.

Sanji was of a smaller build than Zoro, though he was the same height as him, but had light skin, as well as medium-length, mildly scruffy, blonde hair that he always had combed over his right eye. He had a small dark goatee on his chin, stubble on his upper lip, peculiar eyebrows that swirled upwards at the ends, and always wore a fancy, black suit that consisted of slim-legged pants, a buttoned, double-breasted coat, an orange, button-up shirt underneath with a brown tie, and black, leather dress-shoes.

Sixth, Tony Tony Chopper was the 17 year-old Ship Doctor, and a very skilled one at that. Arguably his most interesting aspect was that he wasn't even fully human. In fact, he used to be a normal reindeer until one day he wandered off into the forest and ate a strange fruit that turned out to be the Human-Human Devil Fruit, turning him into a reindeer/human hybrid, as well as giving him the ability to turn into a fully human form (which was big, muscular, and was still furry and still retained his blue reindeer nose) and also gave him human intelligence. Since then, he's been able to transform into a total of eight different forms (which he calls "Points"), each with a much different use during battle. For example his Kung Fu-Point allowed him to turn into an average-sized human form that looked somewhat fat, but had thick, muscular arms and legs, letting him use his Kung Fu skills to great effect. As a doctor, his dream was of being a doctor that can cure any disease.

Just like Usopp, Chopper seemed to have grown quite a bit as a person after his two-year training. Before, he was very timid, child-like (due to living a very sheltered life before joining the Straw Hats), cowardly, and very distrusting of any unfamiliar humans. Lately though, he had become quite confident in himself and his abilities, matured quite a bit, was much more brave, and finally overcame his trust issues. Other than that, he was usually like a happy, innocent child, but, just like Luffy, would act quite grown-up and serious when the time called for it. He also shared a brotherly bond with Zoro and Usopp.

Chopper was almost always in his "Brain-Point" form, which, other than boosting his intelligence, gave him a big head with a small body, thus giving him the appearance of a small child with light-brown fur and little antlers –a form that Nami, Robin, and almost any other woman found extremely cute, but caused almost anyone else to mistake him for a "Raccoon-Dog". He also always wore a round, blue cap with a red bill that had buckles hanging from the sides and had a strange design on the front that consisted of a ring of red dots, and a red circle in the middle that had a light-blue "X" in the center. His antlers were also visible, as they protruded out of the sides of the cap from two holes. He also wore a pair of orange shorts that could stretch with his transformations, and a white and yellow vertical-striped tank-top.

Seventh, Nico Robin was the 30 year-old Archaeologist and Historian of the crew who served to translate the highly important ancient texts known as "Poneglyphs" that they found along the way. Like Luffy, she too possessed Devil-Fruit abilities. Having eaten the Flower-Flower Fruit, she has since gained the ability to "bloom" or rather, sprout multiple copies of any part of her body, either from her own body or from any surface, be it living or inorganic. This has resulted in her having a strange fighting style that incorporated submission holds and wrestling moves by using her extra limbs to hold or attack her opponents. After her two-year training, she now has the ability to bloom entire copies of herself anywhere she wants to act as decoys, as well as blooming giant versions of her limbs. Her dream is to find and translate the final poneglyph known as the "Rio Poneglyph" which tells the world's true history.

Being a former antagonist to the Straw Hats, an ex-assassin, and having gone through a traumatic childhood experience (she was the sole survivor of her people, who were wiped out by the marines) her personality was very similar to Zoro's, though she was much more serious and was much more reserved about her emotions, having the calmest demeanor of all the Straw Hats to the point of being mostly silent unless spoken to or when something noteworthy happened. She was extremely intelligent, hardly ever smiled, was usually drawn to anything dark in nature, and was usually the first one to point out anything negative about a situation.

Due to her age, she was a very mature woman with curves and "assets" that exceeded even Nami's, and thus, like Nami, she too was considered by almost everyone to be a very beautiful woman. She was tall, at 6'2'', and had tan skin, dark-blue eyes with large pupils, long, straight, black hair that she kept combed back, reaching her lower-back and allowing only two thin locks to hang down and frame her face on both sides. Hanging on her forehead was a pair of silver framed sunglasses with orange lenses, and her outfit consisted of a half-length, purple, leather vest with the collar up, that exposed her stomach and was only partially zipped, revealing a lot of her cleavage. Printed on the left breast of the vest was a white rose. She also wore a long, pink, sari-like skirt, pink high-heeled pumps, and a pink backpack.

Eighth, Franky was the 36 year-old Shipwright and Scientist, whose job it was to fix and modify the ship. He was a large, half-human cyborg who, besides having tremendous strength, had modified his own body with multiple dangerous weapons such as missiles and even a high-powered laser. He was also a genius, yet wacky, scientific engineer who made weird inventions. His dream was to build a ship capable of circumnavigating the entire world.

Like Robin, Franky had once been an antagonist to the Straw Hats, and like Luffy, he had quite an eccentric and robust personality. He was usually very goofy, care-free, and strong-willed, though, a running gag with him was that despite his super-tough appearance, he had a habit of crying comically during any sort of sad or touching story or moment. Despite this, he was widely admired by Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper because of his robotic body, creative inventions, and powerful weapons. Oh yeah, he also ran on Cola!

Being a cyborg, he was the second tallest member of the group at almost 8' tall. He had a very bulky upper body (out of which, his head and large, muscular torso were the only things that looked human), had light-blue, buzz-cut hair, tan skin, a silver nose, and sunglasses. His arms appeared to be very robotic, almost as if they were made for a mech because his shoulders were massive, red ball and socket joints with "BF-37" printed on them, his elbows were replaced with light-blue hinges, his forearms were large, light-blue rectangular cubes that each had a half of his trademark, dark-blue star tattoo (which became one star when he would put his forearms together), and his hands were large, red, studded robot hands. His legs also looked very robotic and were silver. The only clothing that he wore was an open, red Hawaiian shirt that was patterned with green, coconut palm-trees, and instead of pants, he only wore a red speedo (which in another running gag, often caused a lot of strangers to label him as a pervert).

Finally, Brook was the 90 year-old Ship Musician. He was a pseudo-immortal, living skeleton that had been revived sometime after his death by having eaten the Revive-Revive Fruit before then, and besides being a very talented musician that could play any musical instrument with complete mastery, he was also a master sword-fencer. After his two-year training, he now had the ability to hypnotize enemies with his music, as well as now being able to channel "the chill of the Underworld" as he said it, through his sword, freezing the blade and in turn, freezing anyone he cut. His dream was to be reunited with his best friend, a giant whale named _Laboon_ who had been awaiting his return on the other side of the world for decades due to his death.

Like Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, and Franky, Brook was a funny, silly, childish, and laid-back guy, often participating in their goofy antics and stunts. Even though he acted as a gentleman most of the time, he also possessed bad manners, often asking women to see their panties or impatiently waiting for food (even though he was a living skeleton, he still somewhat functioned like a normal human and thus still ate, drank, and even digested). Despite this, he was a loyal and fearless friend, often protecting his crew mates, similar to Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, and Franky. During his two year training, Brook also became a world famous rock-star called "Soul King".

At 8'8.5'', Brook was the tallest member of the crew. Despite being a skeleton, he still had his large, black-haired afro from when he was alive (which he hilariously accredits to having strong roots). Being both a Victorian-Gothic gentleman and a rock-star, he sure dressed the part. His manner of dressing was similar to many real-world rock-stars (think Ozzy Osbourne, Jimi Hendrix, and Slash) as he wore a fancy, black, Victorian suit jacket that was open except for the bottom two buttons, a white button-up cardigan with frilly-ended sleeves that extended past the suit's sleeves, and a pair of orange-red trousers that were patterned with white flowers. In place of a tie, he wore a long, frilly, blue cravat that was held in place by a tight, red, pearl necklace. Hanging on his forehead was a pair of white, heart-shaped, pink tinted sunglasses, and upon his afro sat a golden, pointed crown that had a brimmed base, making it look like a golden top-hat. He also carried his trademark purple cane, which was actually his trusty cane-sword, which he named "Soul Solid".

Once Franky had finished tying off the ship to the pier, they all proceeded to get off, carrying their luggage.

Luffy impatiently jumped off of the ship, empty-handed.

"Luffy, are you gonna get your bags, or what?" asked Zoro, annoyed, "I'm not carrying your crap for you."

The Straw Hats' relationships to each other were definitely not professional, rather, they were very casual to the point where even though Luffy was the captain, everyone treated him more as an equal rather than a feared superior, resulting in him not getting the final word on some things. This was due to everyone becoming such good friends over the course of their adventures, though, every once in a while, they did have their little squabbles. Despite this, they were all still very much loyal to Luffy, and actually respected his surprising leadership skills.

"Oh, right! My meat!" yelled Luffy, running back to get his four bags.

"Luffy, are all of those seriously filled with meat? Did you even pack any clothes?" asked Nami, disgusted.

"Yeah, in this one!" said Luffy with a big dumb grin, holding up one of the bags, "the other three have meat!"

"Will you put all that back in my freezer!" yelled Sanji, bursting into flames, "It'll be spoiled by the time we get to the hotel! Besides, I'm sure there'll be plenty of food at the park and especially during the festivals!"

"Oh yeah!" exclaimed Luffy, running back into the ship to put the meat away. He soon returned and caught up to the others as they made their way to the coast of the island, which was comprised of several tall hills.

"You think Law will mind us being gone for a week?" asked Nami.

"Don't worry about it," said Zoro, "I talked to him about it and he said as long as we meet him at the rendezvous point after the week's up, he's good. Though, he did seem a little annoyed by it."

They were referring to the recent alliance between Luffy and Trafalgar Law, who was a member of the Seven Warlords.

Upon clearing the hills, everyone (minus Zoro and Robin) gasped in astonishment at the view of the park, which was down in a large, wide valley.

The amusement park was very visually impressive and colorful. There were massive roller-coasters of varying designs whose tracks sprawled all over the park's airspace, as well as several other magnificent rides, the most notable of which, was a Ferris Wheel type of ride that resembled an atom and twirled its cars around itself in varying and changing paths, similar to the protons and electrons of a real atom. But what really made it stand out was that the cars weren't even connected to it and seemed to be floating on their own. On top of everything else, though, was the huge tower in the center of the park that led up into the sphere.

"So cool!" shouted Chopper with wide-eyes.

"Super!" yelled Franky, excitedly striking his signature pose where he leaned to his right, bending his right leg, and while holding his arms straight out over his head, brought his forearms together, making his dark-blue, half-star tattoos form one star. He usually did this when he was very excited or happy about something.

"It's so beautiful!" exclaimed Nami in wonderment.

"Sure is!" agreed Sanji, "But not as beautiful as you, Nami!" he yelled goofily as pink hearts appeared over his eyes.

"Do any of you hear that?" asked Brook, looking around.

Luffy, Usopp, Franky, and Chopper, being extremely excited, were about to run off, but a hovering, black, Harley Davidson-styled motorcycle appeared from the side of the path and hovered over to them at a high-speed, barely stopping a few feet in front of them.

"Whoa! Is that really floating?!" exclaimed Franky, as well as some of the others.

The motorcycle's rider then stepped off. He was a young man of about Zoro's build, with black hair in a similar style to Sanji's (the difference was that both of his eyes were visible, not just one), and pale skin, wearing leather fingerless gloves, torn jeans, a long, open, black leather jacket with a black tank-top underneath, black, motorcycle boots, and for some reason, a black top-hat that had barbed wire wrapped around it multiple times in an ascending spiral with a large, red rose at the top. Besides that, he also carried a red electric guitar on his back, and appeared to be wearing a heavy amount of eyeliner.

"Luffy, this guy doesn't look very nice!" said Usopp, worriedly.

The others all put up their guard, except for Luffy, who just smiled.

"Hi! I'm Monkey D. Luffy!" he shouted in a friendly manner, waving his hand in greeting.

The man simply smiled and opened his arms widely in a welcoming gesture and said, "Welcome, Straw Hats, to Technoasis!"

"Huh?!" exclaimed the others, who were all expecting the man to attack.

"I am Thrasher Hetfield -owner of Thrash Rocket Park!"

Everyone was shocked. They had imagined some corporate fat-cat to be the owner, not this guy.

Luffy quickly ran up to him and began shaking his hand vigorously.

"Thanks so much for letting us stay here for a week, Trash-Guy!" he said, smiling widely and happily.

"It's _Thrasher_ and uh, you're welcome," he responded, mildly annoyed.

_Is this really Straw Hat Luffy?_ He wondered, genuinely surprised. _Due to his reputation, I always pictured some ruthless brute, but I guess his wanted poster was spot-on, after all!_

He was referring, of course, to the fact that on his own wanted poster, Luffy was smiling like the world's happiest and most oblivious idiot.

"One question please, Mr. Hetfield!" said Nami.

_Oh good,_ thought Zoro, _finally, she'll ask him why he wants us here._

Thrasher gave her the green-light with a nod.

"The invite said that 'fortune' awaits us. So is there, perchance . . . a casino?!" she asked, hopefully and wide-eyed.

"What?!" yelled everyone else, excluding Robin, as they instantly dropped face-first to the floor with their legs straight up in a comical fashion.

"Of course, Baby!" said Thrasher, equally excited, "That's where I spend my nights!"

"Awesome!" squealed Nami, excitedly.

_Baby?!_ Thought Sanji, filling with jealousy and anger.

"I think what Nami meant to ask was why did you invite us here, and how did you know that we were coming just now?" asked Robin, interrogatively.

Thrasher continued smiling and, pointing a finger at Brook, said, "I was hoping to get the Soul King, himself, to play at the festival! I'm a huge fan!"

"Thank you! I'll be happy to!" said Brook, bowing in his gentleman-like fashion.

Thrasher continued, "Also, I just happened to be riding my bike in the area."

Robin wasn't buying it and asked him again. This time, more menacingly.

Thrasher finally stopped smiling and looked around, scoping the area before answering nervously.

"Fine, I'll talk. I invited you here because I . . . kind of need . . . protection."

"So you just invited us here to be your mercenaries!" yelled Usopp, outraged, as was everyone else except for Luffy, Zoro, and Robin.

In truth, Luffy and Zoro were now rather interested.

"So who's giving you trouble?" asked Zoro.

"Are they strong?!" asked Luffy, excitedly.

Robin just remained in silent satisfaction, due to being right about her hunch.

"I'm not sure," said Thrasher, "All that I know is that they're thugs hired by Sabaody Park to shut me down. They've been sending me one letter a week for a month already, each time warning me to 'watch out for fireworks'. Each letter is signed 'Sabaody Three' as well as the initials 'DSM'. This got me so nervous that I resorted to luring you here to hopefully scare them off. I assumed that by their mention of fireworks, they mean to attack during the anniversary festivities. And as for finding you guys, I have several robotic birds on the island that alerted me to your arrival. They're also what I utilized to get the invitation to you. I assure you all that there will be a big cash reward if you succeed."

All of the Straw Hats huddled together to talk it over at a distance from Thrasher so as to prevent him from overhearing them.

"I don't know about you guys, but I say we do it," said Nami.

"Sure, anyways you'll be off gambling all of our money away while _we_ do all the fighting!" whispered Usopp.

"Don't you talk to Nami like that!" whispered Sanji, angrily, "You should be glad that our preciously cute navigator won't be in any danger!"

"I wanna fight those guys!" said Luffy out loud, looking serious. This earned him a smack to the back of the head from Usopp.

"Will you pipe down?!" he scolded.

"I won't lie," said Zoro, grinning devilishly, "but I'm interested to see what kind of guys Sabaody Park got to take this place down. Maybe one of them is a skilled swordsman!"

"Are you all crazy?!" said Usopp, in disbelief, "Franky, Chopper, you guys haven't said anything about this. Are you guys also considering going?"

"I wanna see the specs on everything," said Franky.

"I bet they have lots of cotton-candy!" exclaimed Chopper, drooling.

"I want to play some shows!" said Brook, wearing his heart-sunglasses and holding his guitar in his skeletal hands.

"I didn't even ask you!" yelled Usopp, glaring in a hilarious face-fault towards Brook.

"Well, we _do_ need money, and we need to get in there one way or another to see Jimbei," said Robin.

"Plus, there are only three of them," said Sanji, "Luffy, Zoro, and I can take them."

"Alright then!" agreed Usopp, finally.

"Then, it's settled," said Robin.

They parted and walked back over to Thrasher.

"So where do you have food?" asked Luffy.

"Excellent," said Thrasher, breathing a sigh of relief, "I'll show you to the Hetfield Hotel. There's plenty of food there, my friends."

They made their way to the park, which was surrounded by a strange wall that looked like the bottom half of a cracked egg that was surrounded by hundreds of tall palm-trees.

Upon arrival to the huge, red double-doors that made up the entrance, Thrasher took out his guitar and played a short, though fast-paced solo, after which the sounds of various locking mechanisms undoing themselves emanated from inside the door, eventually making them swing open automatically.

"Impressive!" said Brook, marveling at his skill with a guitar.

"Thank you. Well everyone, I welcome you to . . . Thrash Rocket Park!"

The doors finally swung outwards completely, letting everyone see inside.

It was sprawling with people of all shapes and sizes as they all went about, either shopping, playing carnival games, or waiting in line for their next ride.

"See you guys later!" exclaimed Luffy, attempting to run off, but Zoro grabbed him just in time, making his lower body stretch out a few feet as it continued running, causing a lot of people to cry out in disbelief and amazement at the scene.

"Damn it, Luffy, are you trying to gain us a lot of attention! We've gotta go leave our bags at the hotel first! Then you can go and cause whatever mayhem you want!"

He then dragged a sad-looking Luffy along as they made their way through the park's main hub area which had a huge neon sign that read "Gummy Plaza". Like everywhere else, it was filled with people. Every once in a while, a group or family would stop Thrasher to get pictures with him, much to the Straw Hats' annoyance.

The Gummy Plaza was a wide area that had strange purple trees in between the two wide, parallel pathways that had blue leaves with little red berries growing on them.

Luffy immediately grabbed some out of a tree and began eating them.

"Luffy, what the hell are you doing?! You don't even know what those are! Hell, even I don't know what those are!" scolded Sanji.

"They're good!" said Luffy, stuffing more in his face.

"Ah, yes," said Thrasher, "These are my gummy trees. The kids love 'em! I originally made them on accident while trying to create new attractions. Go ahead and take a handful! They're free and automatically grow back on the tree after a few seconds."

"Gummy trees?" said Sanji, picking some of the berries. After eating them, he said, "Amazing! They're actually made out of gummy candy!"

Everyone else, (surprisingly, even Zoro and Robin) picked some out and tried them as well.

"What a wonderful place!" said Nami, who then began eyeing every piece of cute clothing that she spotted, "I'm gonna gamble twice as hard just so that I can come shopping here!"

"No need!" said Thrasher, "All-expenses paid, remember? That includes shopping!"

"Oh my gosh! Thank you, Mr. Hetfield!" exclaimed Nami, very much delighted.

Sanji's curly eyebrows twitched with anger.

"Does that include booze?" asked Zoro.

"Of course!" he replied.

"Big mistake," said Zoro, grinning mischievously.

Thrasher laughed along with him and jokingly agreed.

"I wonder if there are any other pirates here, besides us?" said Chopper, quietly. He was riding atop Zoro's shoulders due to getting a lot of attention from both kids and women who were constantly commenting on how adorable he was, which made him rather shy and nervous, but also happy. Besides that, Zoro also treated him like a little brother, so he didn't mind carrying Chopper.

"Forget that! I'm wondering if there are any Marines here! At least most pirates hesitate before attacking us!" whispered Usopp, loudly, as he was scouting the area in a rather conspicuous manner, earning himself a lot of weird glances.

They continued following Thrasher until they _finally_ arrived at the huge, 20-story building that was the Hetfield Hotel, and proceeded in.

Once inside, they marveled at the beauty of the hotel's huge lobby, which had its own waterfall oasis at the back, complete with tall palm trees and a brightly glowing whirlpool that changed colors as it spun around at a high speed.

"Wow, when they said five-stars, they really meant it!" said Nami, marveling at its beauty.

"Thank you! Well, make yourselves at home! Here are your room keys and VIP passes which will let you skip to the front of the line on all of the rides as well as get free stuff! It's the least that I can do for the people who will be protecting my park. Now, if you need anything, just let my staff know, and they'll take care of it."

Unknown to the Straw Hats, though, was that the enemy was already aware of their presence and watching them.

* * *

"Sir, I see the Straw Hats. They're with Thrasher in the hotel, and there are indeed nine of them, over," said a shadowy, cloaked figure from atop a distant rooftop.

"How exciting! Nine more to cut into little pieces! Continue monitoring them, Monstrosidad, and report back if anything develops. Use your shape-shifting to get real close, over!" said a sinister voice through an RND communicator.

"Aye, Aye, Sangriente! Over and out!" said Monstrosidad as he retracted his strange, snake-like eyes back into their sockets and made his way to the hotel.

* * *

"Alright, marines, get your asses in gear!"

"Yes, Vice-Admiral, sir!" they yelled out, scrambling everywhere as their large battle-ship headed towards a distant island.

Usually, the Marines' uniforms consisted of white sailor's vests that had their insignia on the back with dark-blue neckerchiefs tied around their necks, dark-blue cargo-pants, black military boots, and white military caps that said "Marines" in blue print, on them. These Marines, on the other hand, wore at least some of the uniform, but were mostly more pirate like, wearing bandannas, eye-patches, and some articles of casual clothing.

These were the G-5 Marines, who were infamous for being brutal, ruthless, pirate torturers that had complete disregard for any law or order. The very fact that they were listening to an order right now was a true testament to the even fiercer reputation of their superior officer.

"Vice-Admiral Smoker, sir, are you sure this is the place?" came a female voice from behind him.

"Of course it is, Captain Tashigi. Two ex-Warlords of the Sea have traveled to that island recently for an unknown reason. Straw Hat will be there as well. I just know it. It's strange though. I've never known that this island existed before just a few days ago."

Vice-Admiral Smoker, age 36, along with his second in command, Captain Tashigi, age 23, had been chasing down Luffy and his crew since they had first left the East Blue Sea to begin their journey on the Grand Line more than two years before. Besides being the Straw Hats' longest running Marine adversary, he was also one of the strongest fighters within the Marines, evident by his fast rise from the rank of Commodore to the rank of Vice-Admiral during the two years that Luffy and the others were split up for training. Besides being a very dangerous combatant in his own right, he also possessed Logia-class Devil Fruit powers from eating the Plume-Plume Fruit, which allowed him to generate, manipulate, and even become white smoke. It was this power that had gained him the nickname of "The White Hunter".

Now for a quick, short explanation: There are three classes of Devil Fruits: Logia, Zoan, and Paramecia.

Logia-class Devil Fruits allowed their users to, just like Smoker, generate, manipulate, and partially or completely become a certain element. Physical attacks don't work on a logia-class, as they can make themselves intangible by turning into their element, however they can be hurt if their opponent either catches them off guard, or is using a power called "Haki" (which will be explained much later). These are the rarest of the Devil Fruits.

Zoan-class Devil Fruits allowed their users to, just like Chopper, transform into a certain animal, thus gaining their natural powers and abilities. Martial artists favored these the most, as they enhanced physical abilities such as strength, speed, reflexes, and agility tremendously, and even (depending on the animal they could turn into) gave them claws, horns, and/or fangs. These are also very rare, though definitely not as much as Logia.

Paramecia-class Devil Fruits are those that give any other power that doesn't fit in with the other classes, and thus, are the most varied as one never knows what weird or awesome power they're gonna get. Examples of this are Luffy's stretching, Robin's limb-blooming, and Brook's second-life and control over his own spirit. Compared to the other classes, these are relatively common.

Smoker, himself, was very much an imposing and intimidating figure. He was a fairly tall, muscular man with all-white hair that was slicked back on the top, but cut short on the sides, a long, stitched scar that ran from the top of his forehead to his right eye, where it tapered off to the side of his face, and was always seen smoking two large cigars at the same time. Like all of the other high-ranking Marine-Officers, his manner of dressing was much different than his troops. He wore black sunglasses, an open, white and blue Marines-Specialist jacket that had dark-green fur lining the wrists, hem, and neck, no shirt underneath, dark-blue jeans with a brown belt that were tucked into tall, dark-brown military boots, brown combat gloves, and, like all other high-ranking marines, he had a long, white, traditional Naval Officer's coat draped over his shoulders like a cape (a common manner of wearing coats in their world, as both marine officers and some pirate captains did this). Surprisingly, even without having arms in their sleeves, the coats always stayed in place during battle, almost as if they were stitched in place. Also, his coat had the Japanese kanji for "Justice" on the back. Finally, he had several cigars strapped to his jacket in a line (similar to how one would carry spare shotgun shells), and carried a very long, sea stone-tipped _Jitte_ (Japanese Steel Baton) on his back.

Sea stone was a special type of mineral that mimicked the properties of the ocean, and thus, rendered devil fruit powers useless when making contact with them.

Captain Tashigi, on the other hand, was a very skilled swordswoman who carried one of the Legendary Swords, a katana named "Shigure". Her primary goal, other than to apprehend the Straw Hats, was to gain the three legendary swords that Zoro possessed by defeating him. She believed that it was her duty to "liberate" all of the legendary swords from the hands of any criminals that possessed them. Still, even though she had come to fearfully respect Zoro due to his monstrous skill and strength, and knew that he wasn't a complete criminal, just the fact that he was a pirate was enough to drive her to want to at least defeat him in a duel and thus, win them fairly. She had tried on multiple occasions in the past, but lost every single time.

She had a similar figure to Nami, but with a much more reserved manner of dressing. She had medium-length, very dark-blue hair that was pinned up, letting only a few bangs to hang over her forehead, as well as two long locks to frame her face on both sides, extending well below her chin. Just like the other high-ranking Marines, she dressed in her own manner instead of wearing a uniform. She wore red, rectangular spectacles, a purple, button-down shirt with pink floral designs, light-blue Capri-pants, pink gloves and boots, and just like Smoker and the other high-ranking marines, she had a traditional, Naval-Officer's coat with the kanji for "Justice" on its back draped over her shoulders like a cape, only unlike Smoker's, it was a very light-pink color.

"Smoker, sir, do you think that we should initiate a Buster Call?" she asked.

"I _am_ the Buster Call, Tashigi," retorted Smoker, "besides, there are too many civilians on that island, and I want Straw Hat _alive._"

A "Buster Call" was the most powerful military action that the Marines could carry out. It was used only during an extremely critical situation. They were devastatingly decisive strikes, led by Vice-Admirals, Admirals, or even the Fleet-Admiral himself, and involved an entire armada of massive marine war-ships that each held one thousand troops, invading a specified area within only mere minutes of being called in order to wipe out everything on the island without question. Sadly, this is what happened to Nico Robin's people, all just for being able to read the ancient Poneglyphs, which apparently contained highly secret information that the World Government didn't want getting out to the general public.

"Smoker, sir, I'm sorry, but even you can't handle two ex-Warlords by yourself," said Tashigi, matter-of-factly, "Remember what happened back on Punk Hazard? And that was only against _one_!"

She was referring to their battle against Trafalgar Law, the Warlord who had recently allied himself with Luffy.

The Seven Warlords of the Sea were a group of extremely powerful and renowned pirates that had allied themselves with the World Government. Due to recent events, their number had dwindled to only five members. Their current members were the previously mentioned Dracule "Hawk-Eyes" Mihawk and Trafalgar Law, as well as Boa Hancock, Bartholomew Kuma, and Buggy the Clown. The other two positions had yet to be filled.

Their ship continued on its course when they spotted a group of civilian ships at the island's docks.

Smoker took a large drag from his cigars as the Thousand Sunny suddenly came into view.

All of the marines began yelling out their war-cries as the ship approached the docks.

"Tashigi, you take your men and head in from here. I'll head around in case they try to run out the back. If they're not found by sundown, we'll stake our men at strategic positions around the park. We better not lose Straw Hat this time!"

* * *

(Dimensional Ship Esperanza)

"What?!" yelled Numbuh 1, who was talking on his communicator with Numbuh 5.

She had just finished explaining to him that a group of strangers claiming to be from the RND had arrived on Moonbase, demanding for his whereabouts.

At first, Numbuh 1 thought that it might have been Numbuh 529 and the others, but he quickly realized that Numbuh 529 already knew that he had been on Dexter's world.

This was further denounced when Numbuh 5 mentioned that they had used extreme force to get the information that they wanted from the security archives, which contained video and audio footage of everything that had happened in Moonbase . . . including their meeting in which they clearly stated where they were going next from there.

Luckily, nobody had been killed, but many were still recovering from near-fatal injuries.

_Who could they be?_ Thought Numbuh 1, trying to think on who would have a grudge against him. _I never made any enemies within the RND,_ he thought, perplexed.

Then he suddenly realized something.

_Maybe I never made any, but Numbuh 529 did! They probably want to get to me in order to find out where he is!_

After finishing up his conversation with Numbuh 5, he promptly called Numbuh 529.

"Failed to connect," said the robotic voice through his communicator.

He unsuccessfully tried several more times when somebody suddenly pulled him into a bear-hug from behind.

"What the hell?!" he cried, struggling to get out of it.

"Really, Numbuh 1?! I leave you alone for a few weeks and you forget my training on how to get out of a measly bear-hug?!"

_That voice!_ Thought Numbuh 1, excitedly, yelling out in surprise, "Numbuh 529! What are you doing here?!"

"I came to finally join up with the group!" he responded, "We took care of business back on Tierra, so now we're free to join up with you guys."

Numbuh 1's face lit up.

"We? As in . . . Numbuh 860 is here too?!" he asked, bright-eyed.

"You bet, man," responded Numbuh 529, letting him go, "I told you I'd watch her for you, didn't I?"

Numbuh 1 promptly pulled his mentor into a thankful embrace.

"You're welcome, bud," said Numbuh 529, embracing him back, "Now go get your girl –she's waiting for you in the command bridge."

They both headed over to it and found everybody gathered (minus the still-recovering Eddy).

Numbuhs 2, 3, and 4 were excitedly talking with both Numbuhs 860 and 2476 as they approached.

"Numbuh 1! You didn't tell us that your girlfriend was such a badass chick!" said Numbuh 4, earning another punch to the arm by Numbuh 3, "Ow! I meant to say: awesome female operative!"

Numbuh 1 tuned him out as he approached Numbuh 860, who looked just as happy as he did.

"Nigel!" she squealed with tears of joy, and jumped into his arms, landing into a kiss, which incited various responses from almost everyone except Jack, Numbuh 529, and Numbuh 4, who just smiled, feeling happy for Numbuh 1.

"Aw! How adorable!" said both Dee Dee and Numbuh 3 with teary eyes as well.

"I missed you so much, Keilana," said Numbuh 1, holding her firmly, "Sorry for not calling more often. Things were getting pretty hectic."

"Hey! No sugar for _me_, _Baldy_?!" joked Numbuh 2476.

"Nice to see you too, _Hello Kitty_," said Numbuh 1, calling her by her ironic nickname.

After a few hours of catching up, Numbuh 1 then walked over to Numbuh 529 and asked to talk to him in private, after which, they walked out of the room.

Numbuh 1 then explained to him about what had happened with the three unknown beings that had terrorized the WND's Moonbase. After relating Numbuh 5's descriptions of them, Numbuh 529's brown skin turned almost as white as Numbuh 1.

"Numbuh 529, are you alright?"

"Of all the people that should have survived, besides us, it had to be _them_!" he said, visibly disturbed.

"Who? Wait . . . no . . ." said Numbuh 1, now gaining a sense of who it was. He had never met them, but he had heard stories of them –horror stories. "Don't tell me . . . is it . . . _him?_" he said this as he made two horns on his head with his fingers.

Numbuh 529 nodded grimly and said, "As well as his two _demonic_ followers_._ Damn it! . . . the _Devil_ of the RND survived."

* * *

(Cue ending theme: Abingdon Boys School - "Strength" - 00:00 to 01:45)

**To Be Continued . . .**

**Next Episode: A New Enemy! Jimbei's Revelation**


End file.
